Iran said on Monday reports that an Iranian official had questioned Bahrain's sovereignty had been misunderstood and misinterpreted. According to media reports, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said earlier this month that Iran had sovereignty over the kingdom. Gulf Cooperation Council states called on Iran on Sunday to condemn the remarks, which Bahrain's interior minister earlier rejected as irresponsible. “That was a speech which caused misunderstanding and there were some misinterpretations,” Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference, without elaborating. Iran's relations with Bahrain are “based on mutual respect,” Qashqavi said. On Monday, the Saudi Cabinet, chaired by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, strongly condemned the hostile statements made by Iranian officials “infringing on the sovereignty and independence” of Bahrain. Dr. Abdul Aziz Mohieddin Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, told SPA that these statements represent “a conspicuous and flagrant violation against the Arab Bahraini entity.” He stressed that these statements hamper the sincere efforts and initiatives of the Gulf countries for” good neighborliness between the GCC states and Iran” and develop relations “for fraternity and mutual respect to prevail and for regional security and stability to be achieved. GCC foreign and financial affairs ministers meeting in Riyadh said they “looked forward to the Iranian government condemning these (Nateq-Nouri's) inharmonious notes which increase tension ... and preventing their re-occurrence.” The GCC expressed “its displeasure and strongly condemned such statements regardless of their sources.” Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, plans to visit Bahrain on Tuesday to discuss regional cooperation, the Fars News Agency reported. Gas imports Iran has denied having claims over Bahrain but the tensions have underscored the suspicions between Gulf Arab nations and Iran. Bahrain has halted talks with Iran over natural gas imports over the reported comments and Bahrain's foreign minister summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest earlier in February. Qashqavi said the gas contract would be valuable for both Iran and Bahrain and both sides wanted to see it implemented. He said Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki “insisted on the improvement of mutual relations” in talks with his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa. He did not say when they had held talks.
