April 22, 2011GCC to turn new leaf with Iran, calls on it not to interfere with domestic
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah expressed here Thursday the willingness of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab states to turn a new leaf with the neighborly Islamic Republic of Iran, calling on it not to interfere with GCC states internal affairs.
Sheikh Mohammad said, in an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya news channel, that the joint communique issued by the recent GCC ministerial meeting has clearly referred to the attempts made by the GCC states to turn a new leaf with Iran "as much as possible," and to lend a helping and cooperative hand to it.
He added that the statement that was issued by the GCC Ministerial Council a few days ago did not tackle the three UAE islands, "and this happens for the first time since 20 years," making clear that, "this is a message to Iran through which we want to turn a new leaf, and create favorable atmosphere." However, Sheikh Mohammad said that this does not mean abandoning the issue of the three Emirati islands, "but we did not discuss it within a serious dialogue," particularly as "these phrases are provocative to Iran, and so we took initiatives in this regard."
He added that, "this is at the level of GCC states, as for the level of Kuwait, we made big strides toward lending a helping and cooperative hand to the extent that we devoted a seaport to trade exchange with Iran and its traders," adding there are some signals that came out of GCC states, and showing their good intentions and belief, "but we responded to with a very disturbing thing, namely a flagrant Iranian interference with our domestic affairs, and this is corroborated by its stance toward Bahrain and the latest threats."
Further, Sheikh Dr. Mohammad said that Kuwait announced, "repeatedly and publicly," that it will not accept that its territories be used a springboard for any aggressive action against Iran, nor its airspace, "and we mentioned this at all gatherings, though this was not welcomed by some of our friends in the west as we publicly announced our good relations with Iran." Then, "we discovered a sabotage ring targeting the Kuwaiti security, and that there was an Iranian interference with Bahrain to the extent that one of the leaders of the Bahraini opposition movement of Wefaq called on Iran to abstain from interfering with Bahraini domestic affairs, besides rejecting these interferences by two other organizations belonging to the Bahrain opposition."
Sheikh Dr. Mohammad said that the Iranian spy ring that was recently discovered in Kuwait led to a "single" national stance by all members of the national assembly regardless of their affiliations and doctrines," with all of them telling Iran, "enough is enough," asserting at the same time that Iran should respect the sovereignty of GCC Arab states.
He also said that the problem lies in the approach adopted by Tehran toward the GCC states as it seems that Iran regards "us" as satellite states and not sovereign ones, stressing that, "we can accept something like this." Further, Sheikh Mohammad asserted that Kuwait along with other GCC states "categorically reject," Iran's way of dealing with GCC citizens, "and its sectarian classification of our countries," pointing out that what GCC states want is that, "Iran should not interfere with our internal affairs, particularly as we do not interfere with its own, or how it treats Arabs inside the Iranian state." Asked if the GCC states are ready to go too far in the confrontation with Iran, Sheikh Mohammad said, "we reject to be brought to kneel because when the security of Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia is threatend, and when Saudi Arabia is directly threatened, particularly as we see attacks against its embassy in Tehran in what runs counter to Vienna Convention on diplomacy, then we cannot remain silent."
Moreover, Sheikh Mohammad called on, in this context, the wise men of Iran to realize that the interest of their country lies in not living at a regional isolation, in a reference that in case any strategic thinker looks at the map, and the surroundings of Iran, he will find that it is in a conflict with all its neighbors, "and this is not in its interest, and it is not also in the interest of the regional security that Iran lives in an isolation, and so we want it to positively deal with us in order to achieve security." He also said that the picture reflected by Iran's relations with a number of countries in the Arab region, "is not at all painted in black and white," in a reference that it is not totally positive as some think because Iran has some interferences with countries in the region.
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