TEHRAN: Iran rejected yesterday claims by the Gulf Cooperation Council that it is interfering in the grouping’s internal affairs, insisting that Tehran stays away from domestic issues of other countries.
“Iran’s intervention in Bahrain’s affairs is a claim contrary to reality and it is made in order to escape from the real problems and will bear no results,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly press conference.
“We have not, are not, will not interfere in the domestic issues of any country.”
Bahrain, one of the six Arab monarchies making up the GCC, at the weekend urged the council to stand united against Iran’s “interference”.
The GCC “looks forward towards better relations with Iran, but unfortunately the latter continues to interfere in their internal affairs,” said Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled Al Khalifa.
“It is important for our countries to stand united against such interference” from the Shia Islamic republic across the Gulf, Sunni-ruled Bahrain’s top diplomat said. Bahrain in February accused Iran of having formed a “terrorist cell” to foster violence in the kingdom.
The claim was the latest in a series of accusations against Iran that it backs activists demanding a greater say for the Shia majority in Bahrain’s politics.
Mehmanparast said Bahrain should listen to its own people.
He urged Bahrain “to seek correct solutions for its problems — which is listening to the legitimate demands of their own people instead of taking military and security action.”
28 killed in South Sudan’s offensive against rebels
JUBA: South Sudan’s army launched a military offensive against insurgents loyal to rebel leader David Yau Yau in the eastern Jonglei state, killing 28 militants, authorities said yesterday. Yau Yau raised a rebellion last year, with support from his Murle ethnic group, after losing local elections in 2010.
Revenge killings between Murle and Lou Nuer tribesmen and a heavy-handed government disarmament campaign meant that peace talks between Juba’s government and Yau Yau never got off the ground.
“The operation has started,” army spokesman Philip Aguer said.Agencies
