The U.S. Sanctions Leader of Bahraini Group 'Saraya al-Ashter'

On Monday, August 13, the U.S. Department of State announced that it has placed Qasim Abdullah Ali Ahmad, the leader of the Bahraini group 'Saraya al-Ashter' who is currently in Iran, on its list of terrorist individuals and sanctioned him. The State Department's statement said that Qasim al-Mu'min, the leader of Saraya al-Ashter, has provided financial resources, weapons, and explosives to members of the group to carry out armed actions against the Bahraini government. The statement emphasized that today's action aims to cut off Qasim al-Mu'min's access to the necessary resources for terrorist attacks. The U.S. Department of State also stated that all of Qasim al-Mu'min's properties and assets in U.S. territory will be blocked, and any transactions by U.S. citizens with him are prohibited. This statement also clarified that with this action, the international community becomes aware of the threat posed by Qasim al-Mu'min's terrorist actions. The U.S. Department of State had previously designated the group Saraya al-Ashter as a terrorist organization on July 9 of this year. According to the U.S. Department of State, the 'Saraya al-Ashter' group was formed in 2013 with the aim of overthrowing the Bahraini government and has killed several Bahraini police forces in clashes and bombings. Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, stated that al-Ashter is another Iranian-backed terrorist group that is committing massacres on behalf of a corrupt regime. In recent years, Bahrain has repeatedly accused Iran of organizing militia groups in the country and carrying out terrorist operations, which Iran has always denied. Last year, the Bahraini government announced that it had identified and arrested a 'terrorist group linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.' According to the Bahraini government, this group was involved in an attack on a police bus, but Iran called such accusations 'false and baseless.' In the winter of 2016, Bahrain executed three Shia individuals accused of killing three police officers. These executions were the first in two decades in Bahrain and led to protests in the country. Bahrain has witnessed unrest and protests from its Shia majority for about seven years, demanding a more prominent role in the governance of the country.