Iran blames GCC and US for ‘interventionist’: What we know | US-Israel War on Iran News

Iran has denounced the US-Gulf Cooperation Council as “interventionist, reckless and provocative”, accusing Washington and its Gulf allies of using negotiations to pressure Tehran after the recent US-Israel war in Iran.

In a statement on Friday, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the statements made after the GCC-US Ministerial meeting in Bahrain on June 25, saying that it distorted the regional reality and repeated the US and Israel’s position on Iran’s nuclear program, missile capabilities, regional allies and the Strait of Hormuz.

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What is the term US-GCC?

The US-GCC statement followed talks in Manama led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, where foreign ministers from other Gulf countries, including Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also participated.

The ministers accepted the June 17 memorandum between Washington and Tehran, but made any economic cooperation with Iran conditional.

The ministers said that “any trade and investment with Iran is acceptable and flexible”, and also confirmed “the aim of preventing Iran from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons”.

The statement added, “permanent peace and security are needed to counter Iran’s threats, including its ballistic missiles, drones, and support of proxies in the region”.

It rejected “payments, fines, or attempts to correct the problem”, saying that free and unrestricted travel “remains essential to regional and global security”.

Regarding Lebanon, the ministers said, “full sovereignty of Lebanon cannot be achieved while non-state armed groups remain armed outside the Lebanese government”, clearly referring to Iran-allied Hezbollah.

The statement called for “the disarmament of all these groups and the restoration of the strength of the Lebanese state, recognizing the need to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in this process”.

The statement also welcomed “the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, led by the United States, aimed at establishing a peace and security agreement between the countries”.

The ministers also emphasized the “shared goal of preventing Iran from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons”.

What did Iran say?

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the statements made by the US and GCC countries “interventionist, irresponsible, and reprehensible”.

The ministry said that the US and Israel had falsified Iran’s claims of nuclear peace, and called on the GCC countries to work with Iran in establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. (Israel is widely understood by experts to have up to 90 nuclear weapons, although it has never confirmed or denied this and is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.)

Describing Iran as “more committed to the region’s security than any other party,” Finance Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the Gulf countries are making a mistake “seeking protection for those who violate major security,” referring to the US.

Iran has also pushed back hard against what it says is its missile and drone capabilities in the US-GCC talks.

“Iran’s national security and its dignity are things that are not mutually exclusive or negotiable; just as the right to self-defense is not open to negotiation, the means of self-defense cannot be agreed upon or agreed upon by any party,” Baghaei said in a post on X.

Tehran said the use of regional bases and weapons by the US and Israel in Iran recently showed that Washington did not value the security of its Gulf partners. It urged the countries whose territory was used during the war to reconsider their position, saying that they have a responsibility under international law and the principle of good relations to prevent others from using their territory to fight against Iran.

Iran also criticized the US-GCC statement by describing the Palestinian and Lebanese opposition groups as “Iranian proxies”. Tehran said that the language did not ignore Israel’s continued attacks and attacks, and pressured Lebanese and Palestinian groups that oppose Israel’s military power.

The Strait of Hormuz created another major conflict.

Iran says the disruption in the waterway is the result of the US-Israeli war. It stressed that the Strait of Hormuz is between the coasts of Iran and Oman, and said that its future management will be governed by Article 5 of the recently signed memorandum of understanding.

The 14-point agreement states that Iran “will hold talks with the Sultanate of Oman to clarify the management of the Strait of Hormuz in consultation with other Persian Gulf littoral countries in accordance with international law and the sovereignty of the countries along the Strait of Hormuz”.

What is the US military presence in the Gulf?

Iran has repeatedly said that US bases in the Gulf make its neighbors vulnerable to any confrontation with Washington.

Since the start of the war, Iran has hit 20 US military bases.

The US usually has about 40,000 troops across the region, including in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

The number rose to more than 50,000 after US President Donald Trump escalated the war against Iran.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Washington is considering changes in the Gulf, including reducing parts of its presence in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, relocating land in Bahrain and moving some assets to Israel.

Is Iran positioning itself as a security guarantor?

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, said that the best way to pass through the Strait of Hormuz would not be guaranteed for ships traveling in the waterway that does not include Tehran.

“Any credible objective must be based on the agreement with Iran and the provisions of the fifth paragraph of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding,” he said in his statement on X. “Otherwise, the result will be the suspension of the same path that has been chosen.”

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said that the long-term stability of the Gulf depends on Iran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz, not the military power of the West.

In the letters of X, Velayati wrote: “These young politicians should not be comforted by the word sent; know this, your survival is removing the remains of this table.

“In a big change, the smaller players around don’t have a seat at the table,” he added. “They have been eliminated, and their tactical survival is due to Tehran’s tolerance.”