Iran's Revolutionary Guard Proxy Groups Accused of Attempting Bombings in Saudi Arabia

Bahrain on Thursday accused proxy groups of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of attempting to carry out bombings in the country and Saudi Arabia after discovering and seizing a quantity of explosives. According to Reuters, Tarek Al-Hassan, the head of Bahrain's police, announced on Thursday, June 18, that the country's security forces had successfully found explosives intended for a series of explosions in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In a statement released on that day, Al-Hassan said that the techniques used in making these explosives were 'clearly similar' to those employed by IRGC proxy groups. The discovered explosives included the powerful C4 explosive, detonators, advanced connectors, chemicals, and mobile phones, and he stated that the discovery 'indicates a significant escalation in efforts to smuggle explosives into Bahrain.' Al-Hassan added that the discovery of these explosives was made possible by information obtained after the seizure of a vehicle containing similar explosives in May, which was traveling on a road between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. According to the head of Bahrain's police, 'the greater concern is the fact that these sophisticated explosives were intended to be transferred to Saudi Arabia' and 'is a sign that extremists are increasingly using Bahrain's borders as a base for carrying out terrorist operations in the region.' Bahrain is a small and sparsely populated country on the Persian Gulf, where, although the majority are Shiites, a Sunni family has ruled for years. Bahrain has always accused the Islamic Republic of inciting the Shiites of the country to unrest and has, at times, used Saudi armed forces to suppress protests. Iran denies these accusations. Relations between the two countries have been very tense in recent years.