Trump’s new Iran policy gets Gulf support

Manama : Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have welcomed the new US strategy announced by President Donald Trump in which he accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and called its government  a “fanatical regime”. 

“Bahrain welcomes the new U.S. strategy in which President Donald Trump stressed that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and new steps will be taken to deal with Iranian nuclear agreement as well as imposing sanctions on the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps),” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The ministry said Bahrain supports U.S. efforts to prevent Iran’s nuclear ambition and supplying of weapons to militant groups in the region.

“The new U.S. position will help combat terrorism and help make our region and the world more stable,” the statement said.  “Bahrain is one of the countries that is most affected because of the IRGC policy that aims to undermine the security and support extremist ideas that cannot be tolerated,” the statement said.

“Iran had exploited the economic benefits of lifting the sanctions and used them to continue to destabilise the region, especially through its ballistic missile development programme and support of terrorism in the region, including Hezbollah and the Houthi militias in Yemen,” Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 “For too long, the Iranian regime has spread destruction and chaos throughout the region and beyond. The nuclear deal - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - offered Iran an opportunity to engage responsibly with the international community. Instead, it only emboldened Iran to intensify its provocative and destabilising behaviour,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.