Iran has censored Bahrain’s reception of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Manama, saying the move amounts to a betrayal of the oppressed Palestinian people.
“The reception by the Bahraini government of the foreign minister of the bogus Zionist regime is a flagrant betrayal of the cause of the oppressed and resilient Palestinian people,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday in an article published on his official Twitter account. He added that Iran recognizes only one country named Palestine with Beit-ul-Moqaddas as its capital.
The senior Iranian diplomat said he was convinced that Israel’s presence in the region would lead to nothing but insecurity for Bahrain and the entire region.
Lapid arrived in Bahrain on Thursday to open the Israeli embassy in Manama and sign cooperation agreements with the Arab country. He met Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Lapid’s visit to Bahrain was aimed at advancing US-pushed normalization agreements between Israel and a number of Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
The Israeli minister had already opened the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi and promised to establish the regime’s embassy in Rabat soon. However, the Sudanese foreign minister said at the weekend that his country had no plans to open an Israeli embassy in Khartoum.
In a statement issued on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Bahrain’s “despicable” reception to the Israeli minister is at odds with the will of the Bahraini people, stressing that the visit has left an “immovable stain” on the reputation of the rulers of the Persian Gulf country.
Bahraini protesters held nationwide rallies on Thursday to express strong opposition to the visit. Protesters took to the streets of the capital Manama to protest Lapid’s visit as they carried banners condemning normalization with Israel.