With tensions escalating in the region top foreign ministry officials from each GCC state met in Doha, Qatar to discuss the crisis and assess policies.
Concurrent with the 3rd Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Summit held in Doha, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan in the 45th Extraordinary Meeting of the GCC Ministerial Council called to address the latest regional and international developments, including escalating tensions in the region and their serious implications for international peace and security.
The meeting was chaired by Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar and President of the current session of the Council. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud, the Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa Shaheen Almarar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Political Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali Al Harthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait, Abdullah Ali Al Yahya, and Secretary General of the GCC, Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi participated in the meeting.
On the sidelines of the ACD Summit and GCC Ministerial Meeting, Prince Faisal met with Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan met Iran’s President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian.
In his speech to the ACD Summit, Prince Faisal emphasized that instability in the region jeopardizes international trade and threatens investment and economic cooperation. He also urged more countries to support a two-state solution and recognition of Palestine.
Among other items, the statement issued on behalf of the 45th Extraordinary Meeting of the GCC Ministerial Council affirmed, “the centrality of the Palestinian issue, the need to end Israeli occupation, and the support for the sovereignty of the Palestinian people over all Palestinian territories occupied since June 1967. It called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and international legitimacy resolutions…[and] expressed its support for the outcomes of the Ministerial Meeting held by the committee chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was formed by the extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit in collaboration with the Kingdom of Norway and the European Union in order to launch the “The Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-state Solution” to realize the Palestinian state, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.”
