Iran, Bahrain reject newspaper's province claims

MANAMA, July 14 (Reuters) Iran and Bahrain moved today to defuse a potential diplomatic row over comments by a hardline Iranian newspaper that the Gulf Arab state was part of Iran and should be returned.

The editor of the daily Kayhan, Hossein Shariatmadari, who is considered close to the Iranian leadership, had said in the article that Bahrain was a province of non-Arab Shi'ite Iran, triggering protests in the small island kingdom.

''The two countries respect ... the integrity and sovereignty (of each other),'' visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference in Bahrain. ''What has been published by newspapers or some ... individuals in the two countries does not affect this clear policy.'' Motakki's visit came a day after some 800 mostly Sunni Muslim Bahrainis, including clerics and parliamentarians, protested outside Iran's embassy, chanting anti-Iranian slogans and clutching pictures of Bahrain's ruling family.

Bahrain has a majority Shi'ite Muslim population, but is ruled by a Sunni royal family. Tensions have often flared as Shi'ites complain of discrimination in jobs and services.

US-allied Bahrain hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, whose deployment of two aircraft carriers off Iranian waters in recent months has raised pressure on the Islamic Republic in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programme.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told reporters he received assurances from Mottaki that ''relieved anxiety''.

''We held serious talks ... in a spirit of brotherhood that dealt with a flare up of allegations that are baseless,'' Sheikh Khaled said.

Mottaki's entourage said his visit was not connected to the Kayhan article, and had been arranged weeks earlier to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss regional issues.

REUTERS CS RK1925