Iran's Foreign Ministry Responds to Bahrain's Accusations

The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs rejected accusations of Iran's involvement in "arms smuggling to Bahrain" and the recent terrorist explosion in the country, deeming the timing of these accusations, coinciding with the Iranian Foreign Minister's visit to the region, as "completely targeted." In an interview with the state news agency IRNA on Thursday, August 8, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also referred to "some" Bahraini officials as "extremist elements" and stated that their "sectarian" behavior and "deliberate insults" to the religious beliefs of Muslims have created a "deep rift" between the government and the people of Bahrain. According to the claims of the Bahraini state news agency, the explosives used in the bombing on Tuesday in the Sitra region of Bahrain were similar to explosives that had been "smuggled from Iran" and recently discovered and seized by the Bahraini police. Bahrain announced last Saturday that it had discovered and neutralized "a plot to smuggle arms and explosives from Iran to Bahrain" and arrested two individuals in this regard. Iran rejected this claim. Amir-Abdollahian once again denied Bahrain's claim about the arrest of "an armed individual linked to Iran" and strongly condemned the terrorist act on Tuesday in the Sitra region of Bahrain. He emphasized that the publication of this "fabrication" and the "continuation of accusations" against Iran, "especially at the beginning of the constructive and positive regional visit" of the Iranian Foreign Minister, is "completely targeted." Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, visited Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq this week. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister also urged the Bahraini Foreign Minister to think about playing a positive and constructive role regarding collective regional security and "creating national reconciliation" between the government and its people, instead of "provoking and encouraging sectarian strife" in the country and region. Amir-Abdollahian stated that Tehran "only" supports a political solution regarding Bahrain and added: "The continuation of crackdowns, systematic human rights violations, and the intensification of the security atmosphere in this country complicate the situation further." Bahrain witnessed a wave of protests from the majority Shia population in 2011, demanding political reforms. The Bahraini government accuses Iran of inciting Shia and supporting terrorist actions in the country, accusations that Tehran has always denied. Meanwhile, on Thursday, June 28, Tareq Al-Hassan, the head of the Bahraini police, accused "proxy groups of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran" of attempting to bomb in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. However, at the same time, the state news agency IRNA quoted an anonymous "informed source" in the Iranian Foreign Ministry as dismissing the police chief's accusation as "unfounded." In this context, Tehran labeled Bahrain's accusation of "arms smuggling" as "unconstructive."