DUBAI: Bahrain yesterday warned Iran to stop interfering in its internal affairs while affirming its support for a union between the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa made the remarks a day after Iran called on its people to protest against the union that Gulf officials say will start with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The union
is a demand by the people of the GCC, Sheikh Khaled said according to the official BNA news agency, adding that Bahrain rejects Iranian interference in the affairs of the kingdom.
The minister said that every once in a while, we hear Iranian claims that Bahrain is the 14th governorate of the Islamic republic and that Bahrainis want to return to the motherland. This meddling and this Iranian stance is not just directed against Bahrain, but against everybody in the Gulf bloc. Sheikh Khaled accused Iran of stoking tensions with its Arab neighbors, warning the Islamic republic would suffer the consequences of these interventions.
On Wednesday, Irans Islamic Propagation Coordination Council, which organizes state-backed protests, urged citizens to protest against what they called the American plan to annex Bahrain to Saudi Arabia and express their anger against the lackey regimes of Al-Khalifa and Al-Saud.
The calls for protest came after Tehran warned that Riyadhs plans to form a union with Manama would deepen the crisis in Bahrain, where dozens of people, mostly Shiites, have been killed in violence since February 2011.
Saudi Arabia had earlier told Iran to keep out of its relations with Bahrain, a Shiitemajority but Sunni-ruled kingdom. Bahrains Shiite-led opposition meanwhile has called for protests today against the union with Saudi Arabia. Tensions have escalated between Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbors since a Saudi-led Gulf force rolled into Sunni-ruled Bahrain in March 2011 to boost the kingdoms security forces which then crushed a month-old Shiite-led uprising against the regime. Shiite-dominated Iran has repeatedly voiced support for the protests in Bahrain and strongly condemned the
Bahrain warns Iran against interference Tehran urges Bahrainis to protest Saudi-Bahrain union | Kuwait Times