Iran said on Friday that a visit by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to Bahrain this week left a stain on the Gulf Arab state's rulers that "will not be erased", Reuters reported.
“We condemn any scheme that bolsters Israel’s destructive presence in the region,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to the report.
“It is unfortunate that Bahrain’s rulers ignore the Zionist regime’s daily crimes against the oppressed but resilient people of Palestine,” Khatibzadeh added, referring to Israel.
“This stain will not be erased from the reputation of Bahrain’s rulers. The people of the region will continue to oppose the process of normalization of ties with the Zionist regime,” he stated.
Lapid visited Bahrain this week and attended a historic meeting with Bahraini King Hamid bin Issa al Khalifa, becoming the first Israeli minister to meet with Bahrain's king.
The Foreign Minister also met with Crown Prince and Bahraini Prime Minister Salman bin Hamid al- Khalifa.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalized ties with Israel last year in the US-brokered deal known as the Abraham Accords. Sudan and Morocco followed suit.
The Abraham Accords were brokered by the Trump administration, but the Biden administration is laying the groundwork for a renewed push to encourage more Arab countries to sign accords with Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently hosted a virtual meeting with ministers from Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in honor of the one-year anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords.
During the meeting, Blinken called on more Arab nations to recognize Israel.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)