TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi late on Sunday denounced an anti-Iran statement issued by the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) as “irresponsible” and said the council has turned “into a mouthpiece for anti-Iran elements”.

The reaction came after the PGCC Secretariat announced that the council’s newly appointed secretary-general had demanded arms embargo on Iran be extended and leveled several accusations against the Islamic Republic. 

The statement is completely in line with the relentless campaign launched by the Trump administration to extend arms embargo against Iran in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 which endorses the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

According to Resolution 2231, arms embargo against Iran ends on October 18. Even the European allies of Washington in the UN Security Council have opposed the U.S. move to extend arms embargo against Iran. 

Mousavi expressed regret at the unconstructive approach adopted by certain PGCC states vis-à-vis Iran. 

The PGCC includes the six Arab countries of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain that lie on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.

Analysts and politicians are unanimous in their views that the PGCC is under the influence of Saudi Arabia. In fact, Saudi Arabia bullies small countries in the council. 

“Unfortunately, it seems that the so-called Persian Gulf Cooperation Council has turned into a spokesperson for some narrow-minded people both inside the council and outside the region and that the council’s secretariat, swayed by the wrong and destructive policies and behavior of certain member states, has turned into a mouthpiece for anti-Iran elements,” the spokesman said, according to the Foreign Ministry website. 

“The PGCC, which is at the apex of its incompetence, and whose internecine differences as well as unrealistic policies have rendered the council ineffective, has, with this move, led to ignoring realities in the region and turning a blind eye to realities and priorities at this sensitive juncture,” Mousavi noted. 

“The irresponsible statement by the secretary-general has been dictated and issued unilaterally at a time when some members of the council have not stopped purchasing and stockpiling weapons even at a time of economic problems, and are among the biggest buyers of arms in the region and in the world,” he added. 

“Indisputably, the United States’ interests are contingent upon further sales of weapons to these countries with such approaches and empty claims,” he asserted. 

The Foreign Ministry official went on to say that the Saudi-led war on Yemen, which started in March 2015, speaks volumes, proving the reckless policies followed by certain countries member to the six-member council. 

“The killing of defenseless people and children in Yemen is a textbook example of wrong policies adopted by certain PGCC members, which have resulted in Yemeni people being killed every day before the eyes of the world by different Western weapons by leaders of this very council,” he said.

NA/PA