Saudi Arabia and Bahrain sign agreements in Manama

Several agreements were signed on Wednesday as Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and his Bahraini counterpart, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, co-chaired the fourth meeting of the Saudi-Bahraini Coordination Council in Manama, reports Arab News.

The princes said they were eager to consolidate and develop cooperation between their countries, and enhance bilateral relations in all fields, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Ministers from the Kingdom and their counterparts from Bahrain signed several memorandums of understanding, including one between the Saudi Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Commission and Bahrain's Supreme Council for Environment covering nuclear safety and radiation protection.

Other agreements related to: cooperation between the Prince Saud Al-Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies and the Mohammed bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa Academy for Diplomatic Studies; the avoidance of double taxation; protection of competition; encouragement of direct investment; and the promotion of cooperation in the fields of sustainable development, social development, transport and education.

Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council reaffirmed their indivisible security bond rooted in common faith, lineage, language and a shared destiny at the conclusion of the 46th session of the Supreme Council at Al-Sakhir Palace in Bahrain.

The delegates declared that the security of GCC states was indivisible and that any infringement on a member state's sovereignty was a direct threat to their collective security.

"Respecting the sovereignty of GCC states and all countries of the region, noninterference in their internal affairs and rejecting the use of force or the threat thereof," they said in a statement.

GCC Secretary Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said that Gulf states united in their support for Qatar following separate attacks on it this year by Iran and Israel amid the conflict in Gaza.

The Iranian missile attack targeting the US Al-Udeid Air Base in June was "a rejected aggression, a clear violation of its sovereignty, airspace and the principles of good neighborliness," he said.

Israel launched an airstrike targeting Hamas figures in Doha in September, which killed six people, including a Qatari citizen.