Iran asks Gulf states to help in terror fight

Iranian foreign minister denies claims by Bahrain over weapons smugglers.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif smiles during a press conference in Kuwait City on July 26.EPA

KUWAIT CITY // Iran’s foreign minister on Sunday called on Gulf Arab neighbours to cooperate against the common threat of “terrorism, extremism and sectarianism”, but insisted that Tehran’s regional policy will not change.

“Our message to the countries of the region is that we should cooperate to face the common threat,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

Mr Zarif also denied claims by the Gulf state of Bahrain that it had detained two men for trying to smuggle weapons from Iran.

Bahrain’s interior ministry said late on Saturday the two were arrested aboard a boat with machineguns, ammunition and C4 explosives, adding that the arms originated in Iran.

Manama also withdrew its ambassador to Tehran after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the nuclear deal Tehran agreed with world powers would not alter its support for the governments of Syria and Iraq, nor its backing for “oppressed people” in Yemen and Bahrain, and the Palestinians.

Mr Zarif’s plans to also stop in Qatar and Iraq, but he is not visiting Saudi Arabia or the UAE, two key coalition members in the war against the Yemeni rebels.

The nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers, struck on July 14, imposes certain controls on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

Arabian Gulf countries have been quick to voice concern about the agreement, which will see a progressive easing of international sanctions on Iran in place since 2006.

They fear that the deal could bolster their Shiite-dominated adversary, which stands accused of interfering in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen.

* with reporting by Agence France-Presse