Iran only offering “moral support” to Bahrainis, but Arab states are skeptical

Iran says it offers only “moral support” to the demands of Bahraini people but has no direct involvement in the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

“Other than offering moral support to the legitimate and peaceful demands of the people,” Tehran has “no role in the events,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a statement emailed to Agence-France Presse.

His remarks came after a joint statement by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) issued in Abu Dhabi that backed the March 14 deployment of a Saudi-led Gulf force, including UAE police in Bahrain.

But well-placed sources in Gulf Arab States expressed skepticism about the Iranian statement. Gulf leaders widely believe that Iran has been offering more than moral support to dissidents and demonstrators in places such as Bahrain, where unrest has been acute.

The move by Gulf States to send personnel to Bahrain freed up Bahraini security forces to tackle the protest movement in the only Shiite-majority Arab state of the Gulf. Their action has been repeatedly condemned by Shiite-dominant Iran.

The protests began in February demanding political reforms, but some groups began to demand the ouster of the ruling al-Khalifa family. Three Shiite groups issued a call on March 8 for Bahrain to become a republic, launching what they called the “Coalition for a Republic.”

A statement issued by the six-member GCC and the 27-member European Union said the two blocs played up “the importance of respect for the sovereignty of GCC members”—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—and “recognized the GCC is entitled to take all necessary measures to protect their citizens.”

But Mr. Mehmanparast criticized the European Union.

“Doesn’t your silence in the face of these crimes show you taking sides in the situation and adopting double standards?” he said.

Last Monday (April 18), Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa of Bahrain said the Gulf troops had entered his country “to deter an external threat,” a reference to Iran.

Tension between Iran and its Arab neighbors across the Gulf has risen, with the two sides locked in a war of words since the Shiite-led protests against Bahrain’s ruling Sunni dynasty broke out in mid-February.

Shiites form at least 60 percent of the Bahrain’s local population of around 600,000.

Foreign Minister Mohammed Sabah al-Salem Al-Sabah of Kuwait said on Thursday that Arab states in the Gulf were opposed to a break in relations with Tehran, even as he renewed charges of Iranian meddling in Arab affairs.

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported on Friday that two boats carrying Iranian students from the southern port city of Bushehr and heading to Bahrain were stopped and turned back by the Iranian coast guards.

On Friday, the leader of the Friday prayer in Tehran, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, called on Muslim states to break their silence on the developments in a number of Islamic countries, including Bahrain.

“Those who are among the Muslim nations, instead of preventing the killing of the Muslim people of Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and other countries and supporting the people, talk nonsense,” Ayatollah Emami Kashani said, addressing a congregation of people on the campus of Tehran University.

Twenty-four people have been killed in the month-long uprising in Bahrain, according to its interior ministry. Four others have died since in detention, attracting approbation from the EU, the United States and rights groups.

“All I hope for is that Iran treat its neighbors in a responsible way and respect the unity of these states,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan of the UAE told a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

In the meantime, Iranian security forces killed four members of “extreme religious groups” who were behind deadly attacks in the western restive province of Kurdistan, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Provincial official Iraj Hassanzadeh said clashes with the “terrorists” erupted in a village near the city of Sanandaj on Thursday and lasted about eight hours.

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mr. Hassanzadeh as saying the four belonged to a Wahhabi group. Wahhabism is the strict form of Sunni Islam widely practiced in Saudi Arabia.

The arrests are likely to be scrutinized by Gulf Arab decision makers; they have accused Iran of interfering in their domestic affairs.

Security forces in the west of Iran often clash with guerrillas from PJAK, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984 for an autonomous ethnic state in southeast Turkey and shelters in Iraq’s northeastern border provinces.

Like Iraq and Turkey, Iran has a large Kurdish minority, mainly living in the northwest and west.

Iran rejects allegations by Western rights groups that it discriminates against ethnic and religious minorities, and in return accuses the United States and Israel of supporting “terrorists.” The United States dismisses the claim.

On Saturday, Reporters Without Borders condemned the use of force by Iranian authorities to contain protests a week ago in the southwestern province of Khuzestan and the ban on news coverage of the bloody clashes that took place.

A rally staged April 15 by Iran’s ethnic Arabs in Khuzestan’s capital, Ahvaz, to protest against unfavorable conditions and discrimination against them was crushed by government forces

According to Reporters Without Borders, both Iranian and international media were prevented from covering the incidents.

Iranian Nobel Peace-Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi warned about the possible spread of unrest in the Khuzestan province following the protests that reportedly left at least 12 people dead.

Iran’s rulers have applauded the ousting of Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, claiming that Arab protesters were inspired by their country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

However at the same time, Iranian officials have confronted domestic opponents who staged similar street protests in 2009 and sought to revive their opposition to the government earlier this year in Tehran.

(Sara Ghasemilee of Al Arabiya can be reached at: [email protected])