Iran: Latest destructive statement proves GCC’s strategic bewilderment

Tehran: Iran has slammed the anti-Iran statement by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as “repetitive” and “destructive,” and said such a statement shows the “entirely wrong” approach and “strategic bewilderment” toward Iran by some member states.

Such “threadbare” GCC statements fail to have any other function but create regional tensions, and are apparently aimed at “neutralising” the outcomes of the Islamic republic’s diplomatic move and interactions with neighbours, friendly states and partners, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the GCC’s Ministerial Council held its 152nd session in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh. In a statement issued at the end of the meeting, the GCC criticised Iran’s regional strategies and missile programme, Xinhua news agency reported.

Commenting on the request by some GCC member states to be part of the talks on the revival of 2015 nuclear deal, Khatibzadeh added that the 2015 agreement and the UN Resolution 2231 have made it clear which countries are the signatories to the international treaty and can take part in the negotiations.

Therefore, making such requests, the spokesman said, only demonstrates the depth of the Council’s failure to see the realities.

The GCC has turned into the biggest arsenal of US and Western arms and ammunition and is in no position to pass comments on Iran’s defensive missile programme and military and defence policies, he added.