Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Mottaki Arrives in Bahrain

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Manama last night and was welcomed by Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid. Mottaki will take part in the first meeting of Iran-Bahrain cooperation commission.

Iranian-Bahraini relations faced a major crisis when Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of Iran’s influential daily Keyhan, reiterated a long-standing popular Iranian claim over Bahrain. The government has distanced itself from Shariatmadari’s call for Bahrain’s return to Iran.

The Shah’s government had renounced Iran’s claim over Bahrain in 1971 in return for the ownership of three islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tombs, now claimed by UAE.

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