In an interview with The Washington Post published last Friday, Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa was unstinting in his condemnation of the Islamic Republic.
He insisted that the Sunni monarchy wanted to have a dialogue about reform with the Shiite majority that started protests earlier this year.
“I am concerned that there are forces of darkness who don’t want this dialogue to succeed. They want to see Bahrain fall into anarchy,” he said.
The Washington Post asked if he was referring to Iran.
“Yes, I am referring to Iran being supportive of many extremist groups that held the country hostage and eventually led to the state of [threats to] national safety. It was unprecedented how Iran sustained a campaign against Bahrain.”
He said the Saudi troops that came into Bahrain a few months ago would remain because of Iran. “The troops are there against foreign threats. We received many threats from Iran.” He did not quote any, however. The Islamic Republic has been very vocal in supporting the political demands of the protesters, but it has not publicly threatened to take any action against the Bahraini state.
US officials have said they see no evidence of any Iranian role in the outbreak of the anti-regime protests earlier this year. But they also say Iran is trying to take advantage of the protests. American officials have said they have evidence Iran has delivered a handful of weapons to Bahraini rebels, not enough to have any real impact, just enough to demonstrate support. Other US officials have said they have evidence Iran has counseled the Bahraini protesters against any dialogue with the Bahraini government.
Last Friday, Bahrain’s senior Shia cleric, Shaikh Issa Qassem preached a sermon in which he said there would be no dialogue with the government so long as it maintained “daily security harassment” such as police checkpoints and arrest sweeps.
The foreign minister said the Saudi troops in Bahrain had nothing to do with crushing the rebellion. He said, “They didn’t come in contact with people. They came straight to the bases to protect vital installations against outside threats.”
Most reports say the Saudi troops mainly freed up the Bahraini Army and police to confront the protesters, although there are some credible reports of Saudi troops entering rebellious villages far from the capital city to restore order.