Foreign Minister attends GCC extraordinary meet

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, attended the 42nd extraordinary meeting for the GCC Ministerial Council held yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

The Ministerial Council discussed the repercussions of the attack on the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in the Iranian city of Mashhad. 

The Council issued a statement in which it stressed the strong condemnation and rejection of these infringements. They hold the Iranian authorities fully responsible for these terrorist acts in accordance with its commitment to the Conventions of Vienna of 1961 and 1963 and international law, which makes it imperative for the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions of
States.

The Ministerial Council also condemned the Iranian blatant interventions in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia. It stressed that such acts did not serve peace and security in the region and the world. 

The Council stressed the support of GCC countries together with Saudi Arabia and for the decisions taken to fight terrorism. It also expressed its full support for the measures taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the face of terrorist attacks on diplomatic missions in Iran, stressing that the GCC countries will take further appropriate action to address these attacks. 

The Ministerial Council also condemned Iran’s continued occupation of the three United Arab Emirates islands (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa), spreading sectarian strife and supporting extremist terrorist organisations, training and financing them as well as inciting them to destabilise the security and stability in the GCC countries.

The Kingdom of Bahrain recently foiled a terrorist plot to carry out acts in the Kingdom and busted a new terrorist cell that was receiving support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Ministerial Council agreed on an effective mechanism to address these Iranian interferences. 

The Council called on the international community to take the necessary measures to compel Iran to respect the principle of good neighbourliness.