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Bahrain’s parliamentary secretary, Abdullah Al-Khalifa, said Iran was not acting as a “responsible” neighbor and continued to act “with impunity”, threatening stability in the Middle East.
“Iran has acted with impunity for the last 40 years,” Khalifa told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview last week on the sidelines of the Aspen Security Forum. “My country, Bahrain, has been part of Iran’s constant interference in the affairs of its neighbors.”
“While we believe Iran is an important neighbor in the region, we are a responsible Iran that respects the borders of neighboring countries, refrains from developing nuclear and ballistic capabilities, and refrains from supporting terrorism and extremism. I believe,” he added.
Khalifa has previously expressed concern about Iran’s ambitions to achieve nuclear weapons, even though they would affect neighboring countries “in a very dramatic way”.
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But potential nuclear weapons are just one of the many destabilizing activities Iran has been involved in as it continues to cause problems in the region.Khalifa includes the Houthis operating in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It highlighted Tehran’s tendency to develop and fund agents in neighboring countries.
“What Iran is doing is nothing new,” Khalifa argued, pointing to the 1981 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) coup attempt against Bahrain.
He backed the Iranian nuclear deal that President Biden is trying to revive, calling it a “critical portfolio” that could help address “the common threat we all see.”
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“On October 9, 2006, the world woke up to the news that North Korea had tested its first nuclear weapon. It was a reality,” Khalifa said. “Until now, the world is facing the consequences.”
“What if one day we all heard the news that Iran had tested its first nuclear weapon? What would happen next?” he said.
Another key part of its security strategy lies in the Abraham Accords, which Bahrain moved to sign after Israel and the United Arab Emirates were the first to sign after negotiations led by the Trump administration.
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Khalifa hailed the agreement as another example of a longstanding relationship between the US and Bahrain.
“Having the United States as an advocate not only to finalize the Abraham Accords but also to get Bahrain to sign the establishment of a joint bilateral relationship with Israel would be a great blessing for the United States,” he said. Told.
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“We believe that those who have ties to Israel will facilitate resolution of the conflict, and we believe that having a two-state solution for the Palestinians to have their own independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital is a good idea. I believe it is the way forward.”
Fox News’ Kelsey Koberg contributed to this report.