Bahrain recalls ambassador over Iran meddling

ABU DHABI // Manama recalled its ambassador from Tehran on Saturday in a growing diplomatic spat over Iranian meddling.

Bahrain also revealed that it had arrested two men on a vessel on its way to the kingdom on July 15 with 44kg of C4 explosive, eight Kalashnikov assault rifles, 32 Kalashnikov magazines, ammunition and detonators.

The men admitted receiving the shipment from Iranian handlers outside Bahrain’s territorial waters and one of them had received military training in Iran in 2013, Bahrain’s interior ministry said.

The dispute began last week when Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the nuclear deal Tehran agreed with world powers would not alter its support for the governments of Syria and Iraq, nor its backing for “oppressed people” in Yemen and Bahrain, and the Palestinians.

The comments provoked widespread outrage in Bahrain, where they were condemned by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and other civic leaders.

The council denounced Iran’s interference in the kingdom’s internal affairs. It said Iran was trying to shake Bahrain’s stability and raise tension without giving consideration to religious or moral precepts, or respecting the rights of a neighbouring Muslim country, diplomatic rules and international conventions.

Bahrain summoned Iran’s acting charge d’affaires last Sunday to protest at Ayatollah Khamenei’s remarks.

Bahrain’s ambassador to Iran, Rashid Al Dosari, has served in Tehran for six years. Sawsan Taqawi, a member of Bahrain’s Shura Council and chair of the foreign affairs, defence and national security committee, said his recall was linked to Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech.

“He is not the godfather of other people,” she said, and he should deal with his country’s own issues. “If we have anything we can solve it on our own.”

The foreign affairs committee demanded an extraordinary Arab summit to discuss “Iranian interference”.

Bahrain said it was hopeful relations would normalise between the two countries but said repeated Iranian statements were evidence of “a strategy built on interference in the affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain”.

It said Bahrain would take all measures to enhance its security and the safety of its people.

Bahrain accuses its domestic opposition of links to Iran. The kingdom has experienced sporadic unrest since 2011 when its security forces ended mass protests.

The kingdom recalled its ambassador to Iran at that time in protest at Tehran’s criticism of the crackdown, and reinstated him in 2012.

* Reuters, Agence France-Presse