Iran’s malign activities ‘more blatant than ever’ in Middle East: Bahrain FM

Iran’s malign activities in the Middle East are “more blatant than ever,” Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani said on Tuesday during the virtual US-Bahrain Strategic Dialogue.

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Iran’s “malign intent and activities are more blatant than ever, from its military program to its ballistic missiles, from its interference in other states to its increasingly overt involvement in conflicts,” said al-Zayani.

“Iran today challenges regional security as aggressively as at any time in recent history,” he added.

The Bahrain foreign minister said it was “essential” that the international community confront Iran’s behavior “with unrelenting pressure.”

“We want our partnership with the US to be an integral part of this process,” said al-Zayani.

US President Donald Trump welcomes Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani at the White House in Washington on September 15, 2020. (Reuters)

The United States under President Donald Trump has implemented a “maximum pressure campaign” on Iran since withdrawing from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

The Trump administration has said the tightening of US sanctions on Iran has weakened the regime’s grip on Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, and raised the prospect of reform and peace across the region.

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