Were it not for Iran's financial support of terror organizations in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the Palestinians would be closer to achieving peace, Bahrain's foreign minister argued on Saturday.
In remarks to an Atlantic Council event in Washington, Bahrain's top diplomat Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa accused Iran of using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a means to gain political leverage in the region.
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"We don't want to let this issue [the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] continue to be used by countries or terror groups that seek dominance in the region. And that will bring us to the issue of Iran," Khalifa said.
"If it wasn't for Iran being present – Iranian soldiers, Iranian money, Iranian support for Hamas and jihadis that take control of Gaza – we would have been much closer to achieving a better peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, and we would have a better chance."
Iran is an admitted supporter of Hamas' military branch, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, along with the al-Quds Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad's military wing.
The comments were delivered just days after Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz met with Khalifa in Washington. The two later posed for a photograph together, which was uploaded to Katz's Twitter account.
A statement by Katz's office later said, "The two discussed Iran and regional threats and cooperation between the nations, and agreed to maintain contact."
It also noted that the Foreign Ministry, with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was committed to normalization between the two countries "and a push for peace agreements between Israel and the Gulf's Arab nations in the coming years."
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
