Iran Thursday moved to defuse a row with Bahrain, saying it respects the sovereignty of the Gulf kingdom which has threatened to stop a gas deal with Tehran. Bahrain Wednesday said it has halted negotiations with Iran over a major gas import deal following comments allegedly made by a senior Iranian official that touched on its sovereignty. “Our position on Bahrain is clear. We have repeatedly said that we respect the sovereignty and independence of all neighboring countries and the region, especially Bahrain,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told Arabic language state television Al-Alam. Bahrain has strongly protested against recent comments of Ali Akber Nateq Nouri, a prominent conservative leader and member of Iran's expediency council, the top arbitration body, after he allegedly said the Gulf kingdom used to be Iran's 14th governorate and had a representative in its parliament. “We do not have eyes on any country. This is a storm created by the media. Nateq Nouri did not refer to Bahrain,” Ghashghavi said in his statement to Al-Alam. On Feb. 11, a day after Nateq Nouri's speech, Iran's Khorasan newspaper quoted him as saying in his address that “under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi one of our provinces which has now become a country named Bahrain was taken away from us... At that time Bahrain was our 14th province and had a representative at the parliament.” Bahrain's parliament condemned the remarks as “irresponsible” and urged Iran to “put an end to... all false statements that do not serve to boost relations between the countries, nor the interests of their people or regional stability and security.” Ghasghavi Thursday warned the media from “reopening old border disputes as they do not benefit nations in the region or brotherhood and friendship.” Bahrain's Al-Ayam newspaper said the kingdom had recalled from Iran its team overseeing an October deal which would have provided Bahrain with one billion cubic feet (about 28 million cubic metres) of natural gas each year. Arab countries have strongly condemned Iranian statements. The Saudi Press Agency Wednesday quoted a statement issued by an official Saudi source as saying: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that such irresponsible comments are only an attempt to defy historical and geographic facts, and are a brazen breach of the sovereignty of a member of the GCC, Arab League and the United Nations.” The source said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia categorically rejects such statements and expresses its deep regret over such views, stressing that such remarks create obstacles in the way of good intentions aiming to build good-neighborly relations between the GCC states and Iran based on friendliness and mutual respect as well as initiatives to achieve security and stability in the region and avert a rift between Muslims.” Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak visited Bahrain Monday and King Abdallah II of Jordan followed suit Wednesday to show solidarity with Bahrain, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
