RIYADH – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their support for the decisions and measures taken by Saudi Arabia to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, to pursue perpetrators of terrorist acts and instigators of sedition and bring them to justice. The GCC Foreign Ministers praised the efficiency, independence and integrity of the judiciary in the Kingdom, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Saturday. This came in a statement issued at end of the 42nd extraordinary meeting of the GCC Ministerial Council chaired by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and attended by GCC Secretary General Dr. Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani. The GCC Ministerial Council discussed the repercussions of the attacks on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. The Ministerial Council strongly condemned and categorically rejected these attacks, holding the Iranian authorities fully responsible for these terrorist acts based on its commitment to the 1961 and 1963 Vienna Conventions and international law, which hold countries responsible for protecting the diplomatic missions in their territories. The GCC Ministerial Council also condemned the blatant Iranian interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom, which were reflected by hostile and provocative Iranian statements on the Shariah verdicts against a number of terrorists. The GCC Ministerial Council considered these statements a direct incitement for launching the attacks on the diplomatic missions of the Kingdom. The Council stressed that such acts do not serve peace and security in the region and the world. They are contrary to the principles of good neighborliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of countries and respecting their sovereignty. Noncompliance with such principles results in complicating the situation and igniting more crises in the region. The GCC Ministerial Council condemned Iran's continued occupation of the three United Arab Emirates islands (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa), spreading sectarian strife, supporting extremist terrorist organizations, training and financing them and inciting them to undermine security and stability in the GCC countries. An example is the recent foiling of a terrorist plan in Bahrain to carry out terrorist blasts. The Ministerial Council urged the international community to take necessary measures to compel Iran to respect the principle of good neighborliness in word and deed, to stop its activities to destabilize the region, to stop its support for terrorism, to stop interference in the internal affairs of the GCC.
