Gulf Arab states have accused Iran of interfering in their regional affairs with the alleged aim of “sowing discord and destruction.”
At a meeting in Riyadh, ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council called for the international community and the UN to take “necessary measures” to halt such Iranian actions.
A statement said the GCC — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — “categorically rejects all foreign interference in its affairs…and invites the Iranian regime to stop its provocations.”
It also condemned “aggression” against Saudi diplomats in Iran.
Earlier in the day, Riyadh threatened to recall its diplomats from Tehran unless they were better protected.
Iranians protested outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran on April 11 to condemn Riyadh’s military intervention in Bahrain. Iranian media reported several petrol bombs were thrown at the embassy building during the protest.
Bahrain’s Sunni rulers called in troops from Sunni-led Gulf neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help put down protests last month by Bahrain’s majority Shi’ites.
Iran has repeatedly condemned the crackdown and the deployment of Gulf Arab troops in Bahrain, a key U.S. ally and home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
Source: RFE/RL
