Bahrain

Bahrain held a conference on security in December, attended by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Kazem Jalali, chairman of the Iranian parliament's foreign affairs committee, highlighting its role as an intermediary in the dispute. Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa also repeated his controversial suggestion that a new organisation should be set up to include 'all of the countries in the region' - including Iran and Israel. The proposal is an unpopular one domestically, and demonstrates Bahrain's apparent security and willingness to take difficult positions, which is a good illustration of its own

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options: