Iran Rejects GCC’s ‘Irresponsible’ Statement

The reaction by Seyyed Abbas Mousavi came after the GCC’s Secretariat announced that the council’s newly appointed secretary general had demanded an arms embargo on Iran be extended and levelled several accusations against the Islamic Republic.

In comments on Sunday, Mousavi expressed regret at the unconstructive approach adopted by certain GCC members vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“Unfortunately, it seems that the so-called Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has turned into a spokesperson for some narrow-minded people both inside the council and outside the region, and that the council’s secretariat, swayed by the wrong and destructive policies and behaviour of certain member states, has turned into a mouthpiece for anti-Iran elements,” said the spokesman.

“The GCC, which is at the apex of its incompetence, and whose internecine differences as well as unrealistic policies have rendered the council ineffective, has, with this move, led to ignoring realities in the region and turning a blind eye to realities and priorities at this sensitive juncture,” Mousavi noted.

“The irresponsible statement by the secretary general has been dictated and issued unilaterally at a time when some members of the council have not stopped purchasing and stockpiling weapons even at a time of economic problems, and are among the biggest buyers of arms in the region and in the world,” he added.

“Indubitably, the United States’ interests are contingent upon further sales of weapons to these countries with such approaches and empty claims,” he said.

“The killing of defenceless people and children in Yemen is a textbook example of wrong policies adopted by certain GCC members, which have resulted in Yemeni people being killed every day before the eyes of the world by different Western weapons by leaders of this very council,” he said.