“Unprecedented” operation in Bahrain: 41 people accused of links to Iran's Revolutionary Guards were arrested
Bahrain's Interior Ministry announced on Saturday the dismantling of an organization accused of links to the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the arrest of 41 of its alleged members, reports AFP.
“In accordance with previous investigations carried out by the prosecutor's office in cases of espionage in favor of foreign entities and sympathy for Iranian aggression, the security services have dismantled an organization linked to the Revolutionary Guards,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement, citing 41 arrests.
Authorities “have made arrests targeting some of the country's most prominent Shiite figures,” X Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the London-based NGO Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) had previously warned.
“Unprecedented” operation
It is an “unprecedented” operation, which has never happened on such a scale, not even during the full repression of 2011,” said the human rights activist.
In 2011, in the context of the Arab Spring, Bahrain was rocked by a large-scale protest movement. The royal family has accused Tehran of training and supporting protesters with the aim of overthrowing it, a charge the Islamic Republic has denied.
Since February 28, Bahrain has been the target of hundreds of missiles and drones launched by Iran, its big Shiite neighbor, in retaliation for the US-Israeli offensive launched against Tehran. Bahrain is home to the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.
The conflict has reignited tensions in this small Gulf kingdom, ruled by a Sunni dynasty, while a large part of the population is Shiite and has long accused it of being marginalized.
Dozens of people have been arrested for expressing support for Tehran, according to Human Rights Watch. Some were convicted of treason, while 69 people were stripped of their citizenship.
On Thursday, three Bahraini MPs were removed from office for challenging a royal decree on citizenship matters.
