Bahrain FM: Qatar Orbits Iran, Failed to Present Initiative to Resolve Crisis

Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa speaks during a news conference in Manama, Bahrain, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa speaks during a news conference in Manama, Bahrain, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Bahrain FM: Qatar Orbits Iran, Failed to Present Initiative to Resolve Crisis

Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa speaks during a news conference in Manama, Bahrain, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Bahrain Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa speaks during a news conference in Manama, Bahrain, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Bahrain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al Khalifa said that Qatar was still “orbiting Iran”, adding: “We have not seen any sign of Qatar’s initiative to resolve the crisis, so we are still waiting for this step.”

“We are not losers,” he said. “We are concerned about the stability and prosperity of our countries, the security and progress of our peoples before anything else, and it is up to them - the Qataris - if they want to resolve their crisis or not.”

On the Gulf Summit in Kuwait, the Bahraini minister said: “The summit [will be held] on time, upon an invitation by the host country.”

Asked about US President Donald Trump’s remarks on the possibility to terminate the nuclear deal with Iran, Sheikh Khaled said: “We welcomed his speech and the strategy he put forward, and we have been waiting for it for a long time.”

He explained: “Bahrain welcomed this strategy because it is one of the countries that have suffered the most from Iranian terrorism and Iranian interventions, and we are waiting for this strategy to progress and achieve its objectives and not be withdrawn.”

The Bahraini minister underlined the convergence of the strategy launched by Trump with the vision of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain towards Iran’s role in the region.

“Now we see a clearer picture than before, a sound vision and a sense of danger in the region, where Iran represents the greatest threat to security and stability,” he noted.



Gulf Countries Deplore Escalating Tensions in the Region

FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
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Gulf Countries Deplore Escalating Tensions in the Region

FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, May 26, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS

The United Arab Emirates urged on Sunday an immediate halt to escalation to "avoid serious repercussions" in the region following strikes by the US on Iran's nuclear facilities.

It warned that such actions could lead the region to "new levels of instability," according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

Qatar also said on Sunday that dangerous tensions following the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites would lead to "catastrophic repercussions" on both regional and international levels.

In a post on X, the foreign ministry deplored the "deterioration" to the status quo after the US strikes.

It called on all parties “to exercise wisdom, restraint, and to avoid further escalation."

Oman condemned the airstrikes, saying they escalated tensions in the region.

The US airstrikes threaten “to expand the scope of the conflict and constitute a serious violation of international law and the United Nations charter,” a spokesperson for Oman’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Oman was a mediator in the nuclear talks between Iran and the US that have been upended by the Israel-Iran war.