Arab League chief calls Iranian strikes on Gulf states a ‘massive strategic mistake’, urging Tehran to reverse course and respect regional peace efforts.
CAIRO: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has condemned recent Iranian attacks on several member states as “reckless”, urging Tehran to reverse what he termed a “massive strategic mistake”.
Addressing an emergency videoconference of Arab foreign ministers, Aboul Gheit stated that the strikes “cannot be justified under any pretext or excuse”.
He accused Iran of responding to Gulf peace efforts with “treacherous rockets and drone attacks”, launched in retaliation to a US-Israeli air campaign that began on February 28.
Aboul Gheit emphasised that Arab states were “not parties to the ongoing war” and had made it clear they would not allow “their territory or airspace to be used” to launch attacks.
He highlighted that several Arab countries, including Oman, Qatar and Egypt, had put in “earnest, sincere and serious efforts to spare the entire region, including Iran, the ravages of war”.
Oman had until recently served as the mediator for US-Iran nuclear talks.
