Bahrain protests Iran criticism of GCC union plans

Bahrain has summoned Iran's charge d'affaires to protest at what it called "gross violation of its sovereignty" in a new diplomatic row after Tehran criticised efforts by Gulf Arab states to forge closer political and military union.   

Arab heads of state met in Riyadh on Monday to discuss a call by Saudi King Abdullah to unite the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to counter Iran's growing influence in the Middle East, but failed to agree on further integration. Talks on the matter are to resume later this year.   

There was speculation surrounding the Riyadh meeting that an initial union would be announced between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, where anti-government protests led by majority Shi'ite Muslims have rocked the island state since last year.   

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Bahrain would be better off heeding the calls of its people instead of seeking a union with other Gulf Arab monarchies, all of which are allied with Iran's arch-adversary the United States.   

Responding to an Iranian MP's comments reiterating Iranian territorial claims to Bahrain, the official IRNA news agency on Monday quoted Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as saying: "If Bahrain is supposed to be integrated into another country, it must be Iran and not Saudi Arabia."   

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry condemned both comments, saying diplomats presented a protest memorandum to the Iranian charge d'affaires in Manama.   

"These statements represent a flagrant interference in the internal affairs of the kingdom, and gross violation of its sovereignty and independence, (and they) constitute completely unacceptable conduct," the ministry said in a statement carried by Bahrain's official BNA news agency late on Tuesday.  

Reuters