Turkey Slams Bahrain Decision to Establish Ties with Israel

TEHRAN (IQNA) – The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Saturday strongly condemned the decision by Bahrain to establish diplomatic ties with the Zionist regime of Israel, adding it will deal a fresh blow to efforts to defend the Palestinian cause.

“It will further encourage Israel to continue illegitimate practices towards Palestine and its efforts to make the occupation of Palestinian lands permanent,” the ministry statement said, Reuters reported.

In a joint statement, the United States, Bahrain and Israel said the agreement was reached after Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on Friday.

The agreement comes only a month after the United Arab Emirates became the first Persian Gulf Arab country to reach a deal on normalizing relations with Israel.

Bahrain is the fourth Arab nation to reach such a deal with Israel after Egypt, Jordan and the UAE.