Arab Quartet Condemns Iranian Intervention in Arab’s Internal Affairs

Arab quartet’s foreign ministers - AAAWSAT AR Website
Arab quartet’s foreign ministers - AAAWSAT AR Website
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Arab Quartet Condemns Iranian Intervention in Arab’s Internal Affairs

Arab quartet’s foreign ministers - AAAWSAT AR Website
Arab quartet’s foreign ministers - AAAWSAT AR Website

The Arab quartet committee on Iranian interventions has condemned Tehran's continued support for terrorist and subversive acts against Arab states.

These include its continued firing of ballistic missiles from Yemen's territory into populated cities in Saudi Arabia, including the holy sites, in violation of 2015’s Security Council resolution 2216, which states that militias should not be armed.

In a statement issued at its 12th meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, the quartet committee, comprising of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt as well as the Secretary-General of the Arab League, stressed its support for the measures taken by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to address these aggressive acts to protect their security and stability.

It also condemned the Iranian-backed Houthi militias’ drone attacks at two oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia and acts of sabotage against commercial vessels in UAE’s territorial waters and the Sea of Oman.

The committee denounced Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah's provocative speech, which included abuses rejected by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Yemen.

It said his speech marked a blatant interference in these countries’ internal affairs, intended to provoke sedition and incite hatred. It is an extension of the critical role played by this terrorist party, which is one of Iran’s arms that target destabilizing regional security and stability, the statement added.

It also called on the Lebanese government to “denounce Nasrallah’s statements and blatant interventions by one of its main components in line with the commitment to the brotherly relations, which bind Arab countries to the Lebanese Republic.”

The ministerial committee further expressed its “condemnation of the direct Iranian threats to international navigation in the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, as well as its threat to international navigation in the Red Sea through its regional proxies.”

Among these threats are Houthis’ targeting of a Saudi oil tanker in Bab al-Mandeb strait, in violation of principles of the international law.

It also slammed the “Iranian and Turkish interference in the Syrian crisis, and its serious implications on the country’s future, sovereignty, security, stability, national unity, and territorial integrity,” noting that such intervention doesn’t serve the efforts made to settle the Syrian crisis peacefully.



New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
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New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS

A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel ran aground and sank off Samoa but all 75 crew and passengers on board were safe, the New Zealand Defense Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu on Saturday night as it was conducting a reef survey, Commodore Shane Arndell, the maritime component commander of the New Zealand Defense Force, said in a statement.
Several vessels responded and assisted in rescuing the crew and passengers who had left the ship in lifeboats, Reuters quoted Arndell as saying.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was also deployed to assist in the rescue.
The cause of the grounding was unknown and would need further investigation, New Zealand Defense Force said.
Video and photos published on local media showed the Manawanui, which cost the New Zealand government NZ$103 million in 2018, listing heavily and with plumes of thick grey smoke rising after it ran aground.
The vessel later capsized and was below the surface by 9 a.m. local time, New Zealand Defence Force said.
The agency said it was "working with authorities to understand the implications and minimise the environmental impacts.”
Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding told a press conference in Auckland that a plane would leave for Samoa on Sunday to bring the rescued crew and passengers back to New Zealand.
He said some of those rescued had suffered minor injuries, including from walking across a reef.
Defense Minister Judith Collins described the grounding as a "really challenging for everybody on board."
"I know that what has happened is going to take quite a bit of time to process," Collins told the press conference.
"I look forward to pinpointing the cause so that we can learn from it and avoid a repeat," she said, adding that an immediate focus was to salvage "what is left" of the vessel.
Rescue operations were coordinated by Samoan emergency services and Australian Defense personnel with the assistance of the New Zealand rescue center, according to a statement from Samoa Police, Prison and Corrections Service posted on Facebook.
Manawanui is used to conduct a range of specialist diving, salvage and survey tasks around New Zealand and across the South West Pacific.
New Zealand's Navy is already working at reduced capacity with three of its nine ships idle due to personnel shortages.