Bahrain asks Russia to convey Gulf states' concerns to Iran

Bahrain hopes Russia will use its relations with Tehran to convey Arab Gulf states' concerns to Iran, Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani said after ministerial talks with Russia in Manama.

Al Zayani said ministers discussed the consequences of Iranian attacks on council members, threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, and the effects on trade, energy and food security. He said they examined ways to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2817, adopted in March 2026.

The Bahraini minister also said the sides agreed to cooperate through OPEC+ to stabilise international energy markets. He identified safe shipping and the preservation of logistics, energy and food supply chains as shared priorities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a regional security system encompassing the Arab Gulf states, Iran and neighbouring Iraq and Jordan. He said outside participants should give priority to the interests of countries in the region.

Lavrov urged the removal of the root causes of the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz and a return to negotiations. He described the Islamabad memorandum as a basis for that return and warned of the risk of renewed full-scale war.

On Yemen, Lavrov said the sides supported a political and diplomatic solution drawing on the 2023 roadmap developed with Saudi involvement. Al Zayani said work was under way to implement the arms-supply provisions of Security Council Resolution 2216 of 2015.

Ministers also discussed the Palestinian issue. Al Zayani said participants called for the Gaza ceasefire to be respected and humanitarian access ensured. He also reported discussion of political approaches to the Ukraine crisis based on international law.