Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat- Bahraini sources have expressed their surprise at the Qatari and Omani stand of not declaring their solidarity with Manama against the recent Iranian statements which claim that Bahrain is an “Iranian governorate.”

Talking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources said that despite all the differences in the stands of some Gulf countries, “this can still be acceptable but when the brothers remain spectators to statements that infringe on the sovereignty and independence of a Gulf Cooperation Council [GCC] member state, then this is absolutely unexpected.”

The Bahraini sources pointed to the stands taken by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan and said: “At the time when the three Gulf countries took honorable stands by issuing statements strongly denouncing the Iranian statements, solidarity was not confined to the GCC but went beyond it to two official visits by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II.”

The Bahraini sources said: “Despite the Bahraini street’s astonishment, we are still waiting for a stand from the brothers, even if it is a belated one.”

On his part, Sheikh Adel al-Muawidah, chairman of the Bahraini parliament’s Foreign Relations and Defense Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Qatari and Omani stands on the recent Iranian statements caused much surprise in the Bahraini street and added: “We in Bahrain believe that Qatar is the closest one to us after Saudi Arabia. So why do we not find a brotherly stand, the least that can be taken, when we have such a situation?”