Iran slams the GCC and the US for ‘interventionist’ statement: What we know

Iran has condemned a joint US-Gulf Cooperation Council statement as “interventionist, irresponsible and provocative”, accusing Washington and its Gulf allies of using diplomacy to impose pressure on Tehran after the recent United States-Israeli war on Iran. In a statement on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected the communique issued after a GCC-US ministerial meeting in Bahrain on June 25, saying it distorted regional realities and repeated US and Israeli positions on Iran’s nuclear programme, missile capabilities, regional allies and the Strait of Hormuz. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list What did the US-GCC statement say? The US-GCC statement followed talks in Manama co-chaired by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, in which foreign ministers from other Gulf nations, including Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also participated. The ministers welcomed the June 17 memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, but tied any future economic engagement with Iran to strict conditions. The ministers said “any trade and investment with Iran is conditional and reversible”, and reaffirmed “the shared objective of preventing Iran from ever developing or otherwise acquiring a nuclear weapon”. …