Britain will help Gulf ‘push back’ against Iran aggression: PM

Manama — Britain will help Gulf states “push back” against aggressive regional actions by Iran, Prime Minister Theresa May told the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Bahrain on Wednesday in a televised address. “We must... continue to confront state actors whose influence fuels instability in the region,” May told Gulf leaders at the 37th GCC summit. “So I want to assure you that I am clear-eyed about the threat that Iran poses to the Gulf and to the wider Middle East.” She added: “We must... work together to push back against Iran’s aggressive regional actions.” May said she wanted a “strategic partnership” to help boost security in Gulf countries, including defense investment and military training in Bahrain and Jordan. May said Britain wanted to “make a more permanent and more enduring commitment to the long-term security of the Gulf” and invest more than 3 billion pounds in defense spending in the region over the next decade. “Gulf security is our security,” she told the council, which brings together the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.