Iran Condemns GCC’s Statement, Urges Council Not to Be Swayed by Riyadh

“The final statement of this meeting, like its previous meetings, lacks a realistic understanding of the ongoing developments and is a continuation of previous hostilities and pressure of the Saudi regime on other GCC members,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh on Thursday night.

He said some GCC member states, swayed by Riyadh’s pressure, still long for the failed Iranophobia project.

“What achievement has this wrong trend had for regional stability and security over the past decades?” he asked rhetorically.

“The Saudi regime is promoting hatred and violence in the region by hijacking the GCC and its meetings and imposing its destructive opinions [on GCC members],” he said.

In reaction to GCC’s unwarranted allegations in which it linked irrelevant issues to the 2015 nuclear deal and made farcical claims, Khatibzadeh said, “As it has been said time and again, the JCPOA is an agreement between Iran and permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.”

“The agreement was negotiated once, and it was finalized,” he added.

“The same way that our regional issues are not related to countries beyond the region, the Saudi regime’s efforts to get the GCC involved in issues which are basically irrelevant to the GCC are futile, and will only paint a blurred picture of Saudi Arabia before the world,” he added.

“Some GCC member states which make colossal military purchases and host foreign bases and provide for the Israeli regime to gain a foothold [in the region] and betray the cause of Palestine should be answerable for their actions,” he said.

The spokesman stressed that the three Persian Gulf islands of the Greater and Lesser Tunbs as well as Abu Musa are “integral parts of Iran’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

He called on GCC member states to pay attention to realities in the region instead of issuing threadbare statements and change their approaches from levelling baseless allegations to regional dialogue and cooperation.