Bahrain says US-led conference is 'economic plan', not deal

A U.S.-led conference in Bahrain is an "economic plan", not a deal, Bahraini Foreign Minister Kahlid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa said Wednesday.

"The Manama workshop is not a deal, but an economic plan meant to change the reality of the region," he told Russia Today television.

A U.S.-led conference opened in Bahrain on Tuesday, during which U.S. officials are expected to unveil the economic portion of the American back-channel Middle East peace plan known as "deal of the century".

The Palestinians have decried the two-day event as an attempt to undermine their struggle for liberation of the decades-long Israeli occupation.

Al Khalifa said Bahrain supports "the two-state solution and the Arab peace initiative, which was not welcomed by the Israeli side".

The 2002 Saudi-proposed initiative offers Israel full diplomatic recognition from the Arab states in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Arab land occupied in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The top Bahraini diplomat accused Iran of launching a "proxy warfare" against Arab states, a claim denied by Tehran.

He said he trusts "the U.S. wisdom in dealing with Iran's interference in the region".

Tensions have been rising between the U.S. and Iran since May 2018, when Washington unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.

The U.S. has since embarked upon a diplomatic and economic campaign to put pressure on Iran in order to renegotiate the agreement, as well as other Iranian activities Washington considers to be "destabilizing".