Bahrain will chair on Sunday the 165th regular session of the Arab League on the level of foreign ministers amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
An Arab diplomatic source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meeting, held video-conference, will only focus on the Iranian attacks on Arab countries.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the officials will discuss taking a unified Arab stance against the attacks.
Foreign ministers of Gulf, Arab and regional countries met in Riyadh last week to condemn Iran’s flagrant violation of principles of good neighborliness and of the sovereignty of nations, saying it will have grave repercussions against it and the security of the Middle East.
“Iran's attacks will cost it highly and impact relations with the countries and peoples of the region that will not stand idly by as they are threatened,” they warned.
“The attacks cannot be justified under any excuse,” they stressed, saying they were a violation of sovereignty of nations and international law.
They held Iran “fully responsible for the losses”, saying the countries reserve the right to defend themselves.
The Arab diplomat said Sunday’s meeting was already scheduled before the eruption of the conflict and was supposed to include on its agenda articles related to joint Arab work, but discussions over them will be postponed to solely focus on the Iranian attacks.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held a series of telephone calls from his counterparts from Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq to prepare for the summit.
A Foreign Ministry statement underlined “the importance of issuing a unified Arab stance against the common security and political challenges and the dangerous escalation in the region.”
Political analyst Dr. Abdel Moneim Saeed told Asharq Al-Awsat the ministerial meeting aims to reach a unified Arab stance on how to handle the current situation.
The situation is rapidly changing amid the erratic American stances, he remarked. “It is important to hold Arab consultations to come up with a united stand towards the situation.”
