Iraq expresses solidarity with Bahrain

Iraq-Bahrain BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed solidarity with the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people, voicing Iraq’s rejection to any interference in its internal affairs. “The Iraqi Foreign Ministry expressed its solidarity with the Kingdom of Bahrain and its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the statements by some Iranian officials,” said the ministry in a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “Iraq considers the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of the Arab world and an important and effective member of the League of Arab States. Iraq stands with the Arab consensus to support the Bahrain government and people in refusing the interference in its internal affairs and respects the will of its people,” the statement added. Bahrain has protested over comments by Ali Akber Nateq Nouri, a prominent conservative member of Iran’s powerful expediency council after he allegedly said the Gulf kingdom used to be Iran’s 14th governorate and had a representative in its parliament. Iran on Thursday (Feb. 19) moved to defuse the row, which has threatened a major gas deal between the two, saying it respects Bahrain’s sovereignty. Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki sent a message to his Bahraini counterpart that “asserted his country’s commitment to Bahrain’s sovereignty and independence,” a statement on Bahrain’s official news agency BNA said. “Reopening files of the past does not serve the interests of … the region,” said Mottaki’s message, which Iran’s ambassador in Bahrain delivered to Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, the statement said. SH (S)/SR 1