Bahrain Thursday warned Iran to stop interfering in its internal affairs while affirming its support for a union between the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Khalifa made the remarks a day after Iran called on its people to protest Friday against the union. “The union... is a demand by the people of the GCC,” Sheikh Khaled said according to the official BNA news agency, adding that Bahrain “rejects Iranian interference in the affairs of the kingdom.” The minister said that “every once in a while, we hear Iranian claims that Bahrain is the 14th governorate” of Iran and that Bahrainis want to “return to the motherland.” “This meddling and this Iranian stance is not just directed against Bahrain, but against everybody” in the Gulf bloc. Sheikh Khaled accused Iran of stoking tensions with its Arab neighbors, warning that Tehran would suffer the “consequences of these interventions.” Iran's Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, which organizes state-backed protests, urged citizens to protest Friday. Saudi Arabia had earlier told Iran to keep out of its relations with Bahrain. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said Monday that “Iran has nothing to do with what happens between the two countries, even if it develops into a unity.” He was speaking at the end of a Gulf Cooperation Council summit at which leaders discussed plans to turn the bloc into a union, starting with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
