DUBAI: Bahrain’s foreign minister said on Friday that Gulf states were prepared to confront Iran over its foreign policy and Tehran should drop its support for Middle East factions.

Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa also played down any difference with the US over remarks by President Barack Obama last month telling Saudi Arabia and Iran “to find an effective way to share the neighborhood.”

“We send a message to Iran and to all its followers. We are now serious about confronting it and we have no hesitation to defend our people, states, interests and brothers in the region because this is a vital issue for us,” Sheikh Khaled said in an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya channel.

Sheikh Khaled said Bahrain and other Gulf Arab states were ready to turn a new page with Iran if it changed its policies. “The main step is that Iran must completely change its foreign policy toward the countries of the region,” he said.

This included Iran dropping its support for the Lebanese Hezbollah organization and other groups.

Asked about Obama’s remarks to The Atlantic magazine, in which he urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to work together, Sheikh Khaled said: “The issue does not carry a change in policy.”