Bahrain bars Iran from territorial waters, suspends gas talks

Feb 20, 2009, 21:48 GMT

Manama - Bahrain Friday barred Iranian vessels from entering its territorial waters, as the week-long diplomatic row between Manama and Tehran mounted.

'Iranian shipping vessels had been asked to leave Bahraini territorial waters and no Iranian vessel will be allowed in until further notice,' a Bahraini official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Officials from Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) said that flights between Bahrain and Iran were not affected.

The move comes just days after a delegation from Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) was recalled from Tehran, putting a halt to talks for a deal that would see the import of up to 1 billion cubic feet of Iranian gas per day.

Bahrain's Oil and Gas Affairs minister and chairman of NOGA, Abdul Hossein Ali Mirza, confirmed on Friday that talks over the gas deal with Tehran had been frozen.

'Such negotiations can not continue as far as there are some Iranian voices casting doubt on Bahrain's independence and Arab identity,' he said.

The uproar centres on remarks last week by Ali Akbar Nateq Noori, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who reportedly claimed that Bahrain was Iran's 14th province before its independence in the 1970s.

On Friday, Iran's ambassador Abdullahyan stressed that his country fully respected Bahrain's sovereignty.

'Bahrain is an independent country and that is the official stand of the Islamic Republic of Iran,' he told the local English daily Gulf Daily News.

'Regrettable remarks touching on the sovereignty of Bahrain made by some Iranian newspapers are not the government's views; such reports are aimed at damaging the good relations existing between the two countries.'

Mirza sent a message to his Iranian counterpart condemning the remarks by Noori and expressing regret that they 'derailed both countries from real cooperation chances,' according to Bahrain News Agency (BNA.)

Russia and Turkey on Thursday rushed to Bahrain's defence. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan expressed their countries' support for Manama in press conferences at the Bahraini foreign ministry.

Support has also poured forth from Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad and King Mohammed of Morocco expressed support for Manama in telephone calls to Bahrain's King, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa.