Bahrain FM calls on US to continue pressure on Iran
Pompeo: Israel a key partner in countering Iran, not part of the problem.
By LAHAV HARKOVBAHRAIN’S FOREIGN MINISTER Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani addresses a news conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.(photo credit: MENAHEM KAHANA / REUTERS)
The international community must not relent in pressuring Iran to behave more responsibly, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani said at the opening of the first Bahrain-US Strategic Dialogue on Tuesday.“We want our partnership with the US to be an integral part of this process, in exposing the ongoing challenges of the theocratic [Iranian] regime and its proxies, but also ensuring Bahrain and other regional allies continue to have the capabilities to effectively protect their people against such threats,” Al Zayani said.The comments came less than two months before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Biden has said he seeks to return to the 2015 Iran deal, which would have allowed the Islamic Republic to develop a nuclear weapon in 2030, with changes to make it more effective.US President Donald Trump left the Iran Deal in 2018 and has engaged in a “maximum pressure” campaign of increasing sanctions on the ayatollahs’ regime.Iran is “seeking to undermine Middle East stability,” and its “malign intent and activities are more blatant than ever,” Al Zayani said, mentioning Tehran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile development and involvement in conflicts throughout the region.“Iran today challenges regional stability as aggressively as in any time in recent history,” Al Zayani stated. “It is therefore essential that the international community maintains its resolve to recognize and confront such behavior with unrelenting pressure on Iran to become a responsible actor.”US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Iran “the number one threat to the Gulf’s security and to peace-loving people throughout the entire region,” and thanked Bahrain for supporting the US maximum pressure campaign.“We share a key foreign policy insight. We’re realists; we see the world as it is and recognize the violent nature of the revolutionary Iranian regime,” Pompeo stated.In addition, the US and Bahrain “understand when countering Iran and other issues, Israel is a key partner and not a problem.”Pompeo praised Israel-Bahrain cooperation following the Abraham Accords, first signed in September, including trade between the countries and Al Zayani’s visit to Israel two weeks ago. Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Al Zayani landed in Israel on Tuesday.The Bahraini foreign minister said the Abraham Accords “change the dynamics of the Middle East.”
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