Posted on 05/10/2018 5:40:38 PM PDT by SJackson
Dramatic Break With Arab Precedent Follows Iranian Missile Assault
Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa (far right) with fellow Arab foreign ministers in Cairo in July 2017. Photo: Reuters / Khaled Elfiqi.
The foreign minister of Bahrain on Thursday issued an unusually forthright defense of Israels sovereign right to defend itself, hours after Iranian forces in Syria aimed a barrage of missiles at the Jewish state, inviting a wave of Israeli air strikes in response.
As long as Iran has breached the status quo in the region and invaded countries with its forces and missiles, any state in the region, including Israel, is entitled to defend itself by destroying sources of danger, Sheikh Khalid al-Khalifa, Bahrains foreign minister, declared on Twitter.
خالد بن أحمد ✔ @khalidalkhalifa طالما ان ايران اخلّت بالوضع القائم في المنطقة و استباحت الدول بقواتها و صواريخها ، فإنه يحق لأي دولة في المنطقة و منها اسرائيل ان تدافع عن نفسها بتدمير مصادر الخطر .
6:22 AM - May 10, 2018 2,011 3,046 people are talking about this
Several Arab commentators were quick to note the historical significance of al-Khalifas comment. The Bahraini foreign ministers support for the Israeli strikes marks a rare, if not unprecedented public stance by an Arab government, Beiruts Daily Star newspaper observed.
While Israel and Bahrain do not maintain official relations, the two countries interests have increasingly aligned as the Iranian threat to the Arab Gulf states has grown. With its restive Shia Muslim majority population, Bahrain a Sunni Arab monarchy is regarded as particularly vulnerable to Iranian interference.
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