Iran to Gulf Arab states: Stop ‘repetitive accusations’ against Tehran

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has called on Gulf countries to avoid repetitive accusations against it, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, a day after a Gulf Arab summit accused Tehran of stalling regional talks.

“We call on the few countries who express unconstructive views in the name of the Gulf Cooperation Council to reconsider their approach to regional issues by replacing repeated accusations with cooperation,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said. The Gulf Arab summit held on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia urged Iran to take concrete steps to ease regional tensions while reiterating a call to include the region in talks between global powers and Tehran aimed at salvaging a 2015 nuclear agreement.

“We had believed that there would be a new attitude from the (GCC) after recent diplomatic actions between Iran and Gulf Arab states,” Khatibzadeh said, adding: “Iran will not accept any interference in its defence capabilities, missile and peaceful nuclear programmes.” Saudi Arabia’s crown prince told the summit that the nuclear and missile programmes of Iran, Riyadh’s longstanding regional adversary, should be handled “seriously and effectively”.