Hamad moves to cede Bahrain’s sovereignty to al Saud, blames Iran for “gross violation of its sovereignty”

Bahrain, Iran in row over Tehran’s criticism of GCC union
17 May, 2012 – Reuters

DUBAI: Bahrain has summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires to protest against what it called a “gross violation of its sovereignty” in a row after Tehran criticized efforts by Gulf Arab states to forge closer political and military union.

Arab heads of state met in Riyadh Monday to discuss a call by Saudi King Abdullah to unite the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council to counter Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East and neutralize any threat of revolts by Shiite communities in their countries.

They failed to agree on further integration, but talks on the matter are to resume later this year.

In the run-up to the Riyadh meeting, speculation was rife that an initial union would be announced between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, where anti-government protests led by majority Shiites have gripped the island state since last year.

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Bahrain would be better off heeding the calls of its people instead of seeking union with other Gulf Arab monarchies, all of which are allied with Iran’s arch-adversary the U.S.

Responding to an Iranian MP’s comments reiterating Iranian territorial claims to Bahrain, the official IRNA news agency Monday quoted Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as saying: “If Bahrain is supposed to be integrated into another country, it must be Iran and not Saudi Arabia.”

Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned both comments, saying diplomats presented a protest memorandum to Iran’s charge d’affaires in Manama. …more