Iran hopes for end to \u2018misunderstandings\u2019
\nAFP\/Tehran<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said yesterday that he hoped \u201cmisunderstandings\u201d with Saudi Arabia could be resolved after a war of words erupted over its military intervention in Bahrain. Saleh said that Iran respected the sovereignty of Bahrain and hoped that a national dialogue launched by King Hamad after the March crackdown on Shia-led protests would bear fruit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no particular problem with Saudi Arabia and we regard it as an important country in the region that has influence in international affairs,\u201d Salehi said in an interview with the official Irna news agency. \u201cWe have had friendly relations with Saudi Arabia for a long time. After recent events in the region there were differences of analysis and interpretation,\u201d he said without elaborating. \u201cI believe these misunderstandings can be resolved. I hope that we will find an acceptable way to continue consultations between our two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salehi\u2019s overture to Saudi Arabia came after a sharp downturn in relations in the months since Saudi-led troops intervened to help Bahrain put down the protests. Several Iranian officials and Shia clerics have spoken out against the intervention, drawing an angry response from Gulf Arab states.<\/p>\n
Salehi inisted that Iran \u201crespects the national sovereignty and independence of Bahrain and wants peace, stability and security in Bahrain.\u201d \u201cWe think that the Bahrain issue needs to be settled between Bahrainis,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have political relations with the government of Bahrain and we regard as positive the decision by the king of Bahrain to launch a dialogue with the people. We hope that this dialogue will allow a solution to be found.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran received a formal protest note from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) on Monday after senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmed Janati used a sermon at the main weekly prayers in Tehran on July 8 to criticise the Bahrain crackdown and dismiss the dialogue as a \u201cploy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Janati said that the protesters in Bahrain had done nothing more than call for \u201cone person, one vote,\u201d and hit out at the prosecution of doctors and academics for their part in the protests. GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Zayani said Janati\u2019s comments were \u201cprovocative and false,\u201d and constituted \u201cblatant and unacceptable interference\u201d in Bahrain\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n
In a major blow to the national dialogue, Bahrain\u2019s main Shia opposition bloc, the Islamic National Accord Association (Al Wefaq), which took a majority of the vote in the last parliamentary elections, announced on Sunday that it was pulling out, saying the talks were not aimed at achieving serious results. …more<\/a><\/p>\n