Bahrain to host US-led confab against Iran amid tensions

The Bahraini regime plans to host an international conference led by the US with a focus on what the tiny kingdom and its allies claim “Iranian threats” to the security of navigation in the Persian Gulf, months after Washington hosted a similar belligerent forum against the Islamic Republic in Warsaw, Poland.

According to Press TV, Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Ale Khalifa of Bahrain announced the upcoming conference alongside the US Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, at the Atlantic Council in Washington on Wednesday.

“The conference will aim to reach a common understanding on addressing the challenge posed by Iran,” claimed the Bahraini minister.

The comments come after Washington said last week it was seeking partners for a military coalition to “safeguard” the strategic waters off Iran and Yemen.

Several oil tankers were targeted near the Persian Gulf last month, with Washington and its ally Saudi Arabia quickly blaming Iran for the suspicious attacks.

Tehran has rejected the accusations of its involvement as baseless, saying the incidents in the Sea of Oman appear to be false flags meant to frame the Islamic Republic.

The Persian Gulf region has been rife with tensions since late April, when the United States began a push to drive Iranian oil exports to “zero” as part of the sanctions Washington re-imposed on the Islamic Republic after abruptly abandoning a 2015 multinational nuclear accord.

In early May, the US started beefing up its military presence in the Persian Gulf region, sending military reinforcements, including a strike group, and troops to West Asia.

Tehran-Washington hit a new high after the US military sent a surveillance drone on a spying mission into Iranian airspace, prompting a response from the country’s air defenses.

During their talks on Wednesday, Hook and bin Ahmad said the anti-Iran conference would likely be held in late October and would follow up the February hostile meeting co-hosted by the US and Poland in Warsaw against the Islamic Republic.

Hook said the Bahrain conference is expected to draw officials from the 60-plus nations that participated in the Warsaw summit, “but the invitations have not been sent out yet.”

The two officials said the Warsaw summit had paved the way for a deepening unity between Arab powers and Israel against Iran.

ME