Bahrain Calls for Mending Ties with Iran

A senior Bahraini diplomat called for the improvement of his country’s relations with Iran.

The call was made by Bahraini Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Regional Affairs and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) Hamad bin Ahmed Abdulaziz al-Amer on Friday.

“Iran is a very important country in the region and its role cannot be overlooked,” Al-Amer said.

In similar remarks earlier this year, Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad bin Muhammad Al Khalifa called for the improvement of his country’s ties with Iran.

“If Tehran takes one step towards improvement of relations, Manama will take two steps,” the Arabic-language al-Aan news website quoted Sheikh Khalid as saying.

The remarks by the Bahraini foreign minister came as the Al Khalifa regime officials constantly accuse Tehran of allegedly “meddling in Manama’s affairs”.

Tehran has always rejected the allegations about its involvement in the uprising in the tiny Persian Gulf island.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said earlier this year that such “baseless accusations are leveled … against the Islamic Republic of Iran at a time when the Arab governments have closed their eyes to the intervention in Syria by foreign countries which arm terrorists”.

Also earlier this year, a prominent Bahraini politician strongly rejected the Manama allegations about Iran’s meddling in Bahrain.

Speaking to Al Alam TV network, Jalal Fairooz said that even the report presented by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry has described the protests in the country as a domestic issue.

Fairooz added that aside from confessions extracted from prisoners under duress, Manama has not been able to provide a single shred of evidence to support its anti-Iran allegations.

Rejecting the unrest in Bahrain as sectarian strife, Fairooz said the Bahraini nation has a right to reform and wants democracy in the country.