IISS 2007 Regional Security Summit Press Coverage
- December 16th - - Washington Post - A Gates-Style Thaw
Gates, however, would have none of this as he spoke by telephone this month from Bahrain, where he had just explained to Gulf Arab defense officials that Washington was not easing its campaign to stop Iran from going nuclear despite all appearances to the contrary. As he had in Munich in February and in Singapore in June at similar conferences, he worked hard at being nonconfrontational and listening respectfully to other speakers. Attending such gatherings was not his idea or his wont, Gates...
- December 15th - - Khaleej Times - Two Bahraini ministers face grilling by MPs over hospital
The government remains silent over rejection of application seeking licence for Milad hospital that was ready for operations eight months back. The hospital is a joint investment project between Bahraini and Iranian businessmen. The issue surfaced after the last minute boycott of the Iranian delegation to the Manama Dialogue Summit held in Bahrain last week, as the Press linked it to the rejection of licence application by the hospital.
- December 14th - - Islamic Republic News Agency - Major cleric: NIE report neither a big victory nor something without importanc
He then termed as a "political victory" the failure of the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his recent Manama visit to lure support of Arabs in opposing Iran. "Gates had gone there (to Manama) to form an Arab-Israeli camp against Iran but with God's grace, he spoke so humiliatingly in the Conference that the participants ridiculed him. We consider it as a political victory that our Arab neighbors have come to the belief that Iran is their powerful friend and they want to...
- December 13th - - Gulf News - US should start a dialogue with Iran
Secretary Gates did not realise that he was stepping into a minefield when he addressed a regional security conference there that included all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-member alliance and a key ally of the US.
- December 13th - - Al-Ahram - Absent Iran in focus
Despite the continued standoff, Washington's policies towards Iran were challenged at a conference on regional security held in the Bahraini capital, Manama, Friday. While Iran refrained -- at the last minute -- from attending the conference, it was the focus of the event. Gulf countries loudly signalled their opposition to any military option against Iran. "We want the military factor to be eliminated," Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abdul-Rahman Al-Attiyah told the...
- December 13th - - Al-Ahram Weekly - Manama's mixed messages
Are Iran and the US moving towards mutual accommodation? This seemed to be the main question that participants in a Manama-hosted Gulf security conference took away with them after three days of intense discussion. Organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, this year's Manama Dialogue, which opened Friday, included official delegations from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain), Yemen,...