Like the rest of the world, Bangladesh is also concerned over the ongoing tension between the United States and Iran, and wants deescalation of the situation sooner rather than later, senior Foreign Ministry officials have told the Dhaka Tribune.
Dhaka is closely ‘monitoring and supervising’ situation, they said, reiterating the country’s position that Bangladesh wants peace, and stability in the region.
The officials said that any armed conflict between Washington and Tehran will affect about 5 million Bangladeshis working in the Middle East, including a few thousand in Iran.
However, they have struck a note of optimism, saying that Dhaka is not considering the situation grave enough, where there is any need for asking the Bangladeshis living in the Middle East to come home.
Although tension between the US, and Iran have been there for quite a while, it started to get heated up, after six oil tankers were attacked in last one month, in the Gulf of Oman. US accused Iran of launching these attacks while Iran denied the allegations.
The situation got significantly worse on June 20, when Iran shot down a US drone in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claimed that the drone was gunned down on the Iranian sky, but the US insisted that the unmanned vehicle was over the international water.
The US was ready to retaliate, by launching attacks on few Iranian military facilities, but President Donald Trump called off the attacks just 10 minutes before the commencement. Instead, according to media reports, Washington launched cyber attacks to disable computer systems controlling rocket, and missile launchers in Iran. Tehran denied such attacks. Washington also imposed some additional sanctions on Iran.
“Look, everybody gets concerned with such a tension. We are also concerned,” said a senior official, “Therefore, we are closely monitoring, and supervising the situation.”
“As a peace-loving country, Bangladesh always advocates for peace, and stability in the region where we have a huge stake. We have about 5 million people living in the Middle East, and any conflict will undoubtedly affect them badly,” he said.
“Having said this, I would say that the situation is not that bad as yet, to press the panic button, and to call them back home,” said the official, adding that the Foreign Ministry has not yet been approached by the Iranian Ambassador or the US Ambassador in Dhaka.
