- The Foreign Secretary will today
[Saturday 19 November] call out Iran and Russia as threats to the
security of the Middle East in a speech to global leaders in
Bahrain.
- He will commit to working with
partners to ensure Iran can never develop a nuclear weapon and to
tackle its destabilising activity in the region.
- The Foreign Secretary will also
call out Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as a ‘flagrant breach’ of
the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity which is
‘heaping misery’ on millions of Syrians and Yemenis by driving up
food prices.
The Foreign Secretary will call out Iran and Russia as threats to
the security of the Middle East in a speech at an international
security conference today.
Speaking at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain,
he will commit to working with partners in the region to ensure
Iran never develops a nuclear weapon and highlight the impact of
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine on food security across the
region.
He will also highlight
opportunities for cooperation on Gulf states’
transition to green energy and look forward to greater trade
between the Gulf and the UK following the conclusion of talks on
a new Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Co-operation Council,
expected next year.
On the threat posed by Iran, the Foreign Secretary is
expected to say:
“Iranian-supplied weapons threaten the entire region. Today
Iran’s nuclear programme is more advanced than ever before, and
the regime has resorted to selling Russia the armed drones that
are killing civilians in Ukraine.
“As their people demonstrate against decades of oppression,
Iran’s rulers are spreading bloodshed and destruction as far away
as Kyiv.
“Britain is determined to work alongside our friends to
counter the Iranian threat, interdict the smuggling of
conventional arms, and prevent the regime from acquiring a
nuclear weapons capability.”
On Putin’s war in Ukraine, the Foreign Secretary is
expected to say:
“Putin’s onslaught against Ukraine amounts to a flagrant
breach of those principles [sovereignty and territorial
integrity]. No country is immune from the turmoil he has brought
to world energy markets or the damage he has caused to global
food security.
“Putin’s war is inflicting yet more suffering on Syrians and
Yemenis, who were already enduring the privations of humanitarian
emergency, and ordinary Lebanese, caught up in economic
crisis.”
The Foreign Secretary will hold bilateral meetings with a range
of international counterparts at the Dialogue and take part in
panel events on key issues facing the Middle East, including
maritime security and conflict resolution.
Following the Manama Dialogue, the Foreign Secretary will be
travelling to Qatar. He is planning to meet with UK police
representatives who are in-country supporting British fans to
enjoy a safe and enjoyable trip, to understand more about their
plans for the tournament.
While there, he will also speak at an event on global food
security, hold bilateral meetings with key partners and visit UK
Armed Forces stationed in Qatar, alongside attending
the opening ceremony of the World Cup and the first
England game.
[ENDS]
Notes to Editors
- The Manama Dialogue is a Forum for
government ministers and policymakers, to discuss the Middle
East’s most pressing foreign-policy, defence and security
challenges.
