Iran slams the GCC and the US for ‘interventionist’ statement - Al Jazeera

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.

 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”.

The statement also said, “lasting regional peace and security requires addressing the full spectrum of Iran’s threats, including its ballistic missiles, drones, and support of proxies in the region”.

It rejected “any tolls, fees, or attempts to assert control over the strait”, saying free and unrestricted navigation “remains essential to regional and global security”.

 Regarding Lebanon, the ministers said, “full Lebanese sovereignty cannot be achieved while non-state armed groups maintain military capabilities outside the Lebanese state authority”, in an apparent reference to the Iran-aligned Hezbollah.

The statement called for “the full disarmament of all such groups and the restoration of the Lebanese state’s monopoly of force, while recognising the importance of supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces in doing so”.

The statement also welcomed “ongoing bilateral negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, facilitated by the United States, aimed at creating the conditions for a lasting peace and security agreement between the countries”.

 The ministers also underscored a “shared objective of preventing Iran from ever developing or otherwise acquiring a nuclear weapon”.

 Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the joint statement from the US and GCC countries “interventionist, irresponsible, and provocative”.