Bahrain team walks out of energy talks with Iran after sovereignty claim
ABU DHABI Ñ Bahrain has suspended energy negotiations with Iran as a result of
implicit threats against the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom.
Officials said Manama stopped the talks to receive Iranian natural gas
after leading Iranians claimed that the Sunni kingdom was a province of
Iran.
They said a delegation of Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority
left Teheran after a senior adviser asserted that Bahrainis would vote to be
part of Iran.
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"These remarks negatively affected relations between the two countries
at all levels, including economic ties, and oil in particular," a Bahraini
media report said.
In 2008, Bahrain signed an agreement to purchase one billion cubic feet
of gas from Iran.
The Foreign Ministry in Manama has formally protested the
suggestion by leading Iranians that Bahrain, which contains a Shi'ite
majority, was part of Iran.