Arab foreign ministers called on Sunday on the Arab group in the United Nations to take the necessary steps for holding an emergency session in the Security Council to discuss alleged threats from Iran to Arab countries and to lodge an official complaint against the country’s violations.
At the end of their meeting, held on Sunday upon an invitation from Saudi Arabia, the ministers denounced the launch of an Iranian-made ballistic missile by the Houthi movement in Yemen against King Khaled bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Riyadh earlier in November, as well as the bombing of an oil pipeline in Bahrain.
The ministers also announced their full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and expressed support for measures taken by the kingdom to protect its national security, while warning Iran of its continued interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region.
The meeting was chaired by Djibouti’s Foreign Minister and current chairman of the Arab Council of Foreign Ministers, Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo and was attended by 15 ministers and six ministerial representatives.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Jibran Bassil was absent and was instead represented by Lebanon’s permanent representative to the Arab League, Antoine Azzam.
A source at the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said that Bassil did not attend the meeting in order to avoid any potential confrontation with Saudi Arabia and its allies over the role of the Iran-backed Hezbollah in the region.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Bahrain also held a separate meeting ahead of the main session to discuss a unified stance against Iran.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
