MANAMA, May 24 (KUNA) -- Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) decided on Tuesday to freeze the activities of its joint business councils with Iran, Iraq and Lebanon "pending a change in the attitudes of these countries towards the Kingdom of Bahrain." "The decision stemmed from the interferences of the three countries into the domestic affairs of Bahrain during the crisis of the kingdom earlier this year," the BCCI said in a press release.

"Senior government officials of these countries still issue hostile statements on Bahrain although the kingdom stated time and again its opposition to such unacceptable acts that run counter to the principles of neighborliness and political relations between sovereign countries," the statement reminded.

The hostile attitudes of these countries crystallized in the media campaigns against the kingdom during the March crisis in a flagrant contravention to the international laws and the UN Charter as well as the covenants of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), it added.