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Iran criticizes GCC union plan

16 May 2012 19:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Iranian officials have criticized the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)’s recent move of union plan, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast warned that Saudi Arabia’s plan to form a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) union leads to further crisis in Bahrain, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Bahraini king’s media advisor Nabeel Al Hamer said Tuesday that four of the oil-rich Gulf states had agreed to form the GCC union.

Bahrain News Agency quoted Al Hamer’s tweets as suggesting that the unification process is expected to be completed in the coming months.

"Any kind of foreign intervention or non-normative plans without respecting (Bahraini) people’s vote will only deepen the already existing crisis," Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.

"The solution to the crisis in Bahrain is a response to the legitimate demands of the people," he added.

During the 14th GCC Summit that concluded in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Monday, leaders of GCC members, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates ( UAE), discussed whether to establish a closer union for the six states.

Bahrain’s parliament affirmed that joining the GCC union is a right step that will achieve security, stability and economic prosperity for its citizens and protect the region against " hostile" states such as Iran.

The Iranian lawmaker, Mohammad Dehqan, also criticized a GCC union plan which prepares the ground for Saudi Arabian unity with Bahrain.

Dehqan, a member of Iranian Majlis (parliament) presiding board, said that "regional countries and the UN should show sensitivity toward the issue since this act which is against Bahrain would provide excuses for interference in the affairs of other Gulf countries," according to the local satellite Press TV’s Wednesday report.

The move would violate Bahrain’s territorial integrity and deprive Manama of its sovereignty, Dehqan was quoted as saying.

The plan was against the UN Charter since Bahrain was an independent country, he said, adding that the plan amounted to undermining Bahrain’s political structure.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani described Saudi Arabia’s plan to annex Bahrain as a " dangerous game," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"The Westerners and Arab states have started a dangerous game after they saw that the people of Bahrain do not give up their inalienable rights throughout time," Larijani was quoted as saying.

He urged Riyadh and Manama to "show wisdom" and give up their conspiracies against the people of Bahrain, said the report.

Iran’s Coordination Council of Islamic Propagation issued a statement on Wednesday, inviting the Iranian people to take part in demonstrations on May 18 across the country to protest a proposal for the formation of a union between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"This dangerous plot, which is the product of the evil triangle of the global arrogance, (namely) the Unites States, Britain, and the Zionist regime, is meant to prevent the model of revolutionary uprisings from spreading from one country to other countries, control the situation and contain Bahrain’s internal crisis ... , incite confrontation between Persian Gulf states, and create tension in the Middle East," the statement was quoted as saying.

In the meantime, the Iranian spokesman responded to remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the recent GCC meeting that upheld the UAE in a dispute with Iran over three islands in the Gulf.

The UAE claims that "Iran has occupied the three disputed Persian Gulf islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa," while Iran insists that historical documents have proven that the islands belong to Iran, according to ISNA.

Mehmanparast said that the recent remarks made by some Arab officials on the three islands are interference in the Islamic republic’s internal affairs.

"Raising or repeating any claim about the three Iranian islands is considered by Iran as an uncalculated remark which ... lacks political and legal authenticity since it is incompatible with the principle of noninterference in other countries’ internal affairs, " Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the local satellite Press TV.

The UAE recalled its ambassador from Iran on April 12 after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a controversial visit to the island of Abu Musa. The UAE slammed Ahmadinejad’s trip as a "risk for international peace and security."