Iran's ambassador to Bahrain has announced that the Islamic Republic will take part in the Gulf Dialogue, which starts tomorrow in the Bahraini capital, Manama. "Iran will definitely send a delegation to the meeting, but the name of its leader has not been released yet," Mohammad Farazmand told the Emirates-based newspaper Gulf News. The Dialogue brings together national security advisers to discuss defence and security issues.
Manama, 1 Dec. (AKI) - Iran's ambassador to Bahrain has announced that the Islamic Republic will take part in the Gulf Dialogue, which starts tomorrow in the Bahraini capital, Manama. "Iran will definitely send a delegation to the meeting, but the name of its leader has not been released yet," Mohammad Farazmand told the Emirates-based newspaper Gulf News. The Dialogue brings together national security advisers to discuss defence and security issues.
Iran's boycott of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) and G8 Forum for the Future in Manama last month, saying it did not want to "be associated with anything related to the BMENA project," led to speculation the country would also avoid the Gulf Dialogue, Gulf News says.
The event is due to be attended by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - as well as Iran, Iraq, Yemen, the US, the UK, France, Russia, Australia, Japan, Singapore, India, China and Germany.
Among the issues on the agenda are GCC relations with Iran, focusing on energy security and defence implications, and regional relations between Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran.
Iran and the United Arab Emirates are currently involved in an ongoing territorial dispute over three tiny islands, Greater and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, which lie midway between the Iranian port of Bandar-e-Langeh and Dubai. Recently, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq were embroiled in a row after the Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud expressed concern that Iran had too much control over the Iraqi government.
The dispute resulted in the Iraqi foreign minister apologising to Saudi Arabia for comments made by the interior minister, who, referring to Prince Saud, said: "We do not accept a bedouin on a camel teaching us about human rights and democracy."
