NEW YORK: Bahrain’s foreign minister flew to New York on Thursday to demand action from the UN Security Council after what he described as a “renewed and treacherous” Iranian attack on his country this week, as the US and Russia clashed sharply over responsibility for the escalation.
Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani told the emergency session, called at Bahrain’s request, that his country had endured 808 attacks since Feb. 28, including 203 ballistic missiles and 605 armed drones, killing three civilians and wounding 465 others, including women and children. He said the latest strikes came despite Bahrain signing a memorandum of understanding with Washington on June 17.
“Bahrain requested this emergency meeting confident that this council will not remain a bystander in the face of such a blatant challenge to its authority,” Al-Zayani said, adding that the aggression extended beyond his country, with coinciding attacks on Kuwait International Airport and a drone strike on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant that he said brought the region “to the brink of a nuclear safety disaster.”
He said the attacks violated the UN Charter and Security Council Resolution 2817, which was backed by 136 member states.
