The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday urged Israel to join them in an outreach effort to the United States to make the countries' position on the Iranian threat in the region clear.
Speaking at a joint Israeli-Emirati-Bahraini panel during an annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif ben Rashid Al Zayani said the country saw eye to eye on many aspects of the Iranian expansion in the region.
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Israel's national security adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat, left, bumps elbows with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani after signing an agreement in Manama, Bahrain
(Photo: AP)
These included Iran's nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile program and support for regional terrorist groups.
"A common regional position on these issues will allow us to have greater influence over the United States," he said, stressing that the issues were of high importance for regional stability.
"Any future agreement with Iran must reflect the new reality in the region and be acceptable to all states in the region," he added.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash also pointed out that the original 2015 nuclear deal lacked a "common regional path."
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IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi speaking at an annual INSS conference Tuesday
(Photo: INSS)
The event also featured a speech by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who stressed that Iran's recent advancements put it closer to the acquisition of a nuclear bomb.
Kochavi said the military had already begun preparing blueprints for a possible attack in Iran, which would likely entail a massive military response from Tehran via Iranian-backed militias in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.