Iran and Bahrain agree on mechanism for releasing frozen funds

Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, has announced that an agreement has been reached with Bahrain to release his country’s funds frozen in the Gulf kingdom, it was reported on Monday. According to Anadolu, Bagheri’s announcement was made during a press conference following the conclusion of the 19th Asian Cooperation Dialogue meeting in Tehran, which saw the participation of high-level officials from 35 countries.

The Iranian official highlighted the development of relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Turkey, Iraq and Azerbaijan under the late President Ebrahim Raisi. He stressed that communication and interaction between regional countries helps to prevent foreign intervention and influence, bringing development and stability to the region.

Bagheri discussed the agreement with his Bahraini counterpart, Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani, to establish mechanisms to initiate talks on resuming diplomatic relations between the two countries, which were severed in 2016.

“We faced difficulties accessing our funds in Bahrain,” the acting minister pointed out. “This was one of our meeting topics with Minister Al-Zayani last night. A mechanism has been established to resolve this issue.”

Bahrain cut ties with Iran in early 2016 in solidarity with Saudi Arabia, following attacks on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad by Iranian protesters. Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations last year under Chinese auspices.

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