Realise the ‘dangerous dimensions’ of Iranian terrorist network: top official

A top Bahraini official yesterday called on the international community to realise the ‘dangerous dimensions’ of the terrorist network Iran has created in the Middle East to threaten Arab countries. By focusing only on Iran’s “nuclear and ballistic programmes”, Shaikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa said, the world nations have avoided confronting this threat and the Iranian regime.

The international community has failed to realise the “dangerous strategic dimension of such a terrorist network that seeks to marginalise the existing regional order,” Bahrain Ambassador to the United States told participants including US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo at the United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) event. Bahrain, he said, over the past four decades has combated its deceptive method, false allegations and interferences through extremist and terrorist organisations.

“It’s now the time for the international community to put an end to it,” Shaikh Abdullah said during the event held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Warning about the severe strategic and geopolitical implications of Iran’s nuclear programme, Shaikh Abdullah said: “Even if its safety was guaranteed, it still poses a grave environmental threat to the Arabian Gulf region as the technologies used are outdated.”

Threats posed by the Iranian regime’s arsenal of missiles, as evidenced by its reckless arming of Houthis, is also capable of carrying nuclear warheads, he warned. The ambassador stressed Bahrain’s pivotal role as a strategic ally of the US to counter the Iranian attempts to destabilise regional and international security and stability. Shaikh Abdullah said the Kingdom is not only participating in the seven US-led Warsaw Process but will also host a meeting of the Maritime and Air Navigation Security Conference in October.

Bahrain, he said, is also the first country in the region to participate in the International Alliance for Security. Shaikh Abdullah stressed that Bahrain has always been proactive in engaging the United States in its fight against terrorism, as the Kingdom was the first country to engage with the United States in its operations against Da’esh.