Manama, April 07: An Iranian diplomat says the Bahraini regime’s use of foreign forces to quell popular protests is a “dangerous trend” in the Middle East.
“Iran believes that what happens in Bahrain is entirely a Bahraini issue and the introduction of foreign forces complicates the situation. The fact that a country has turned to foreign forces to crack down on its own people is a dangerous trend in the region,” said Iran’s Ambassador to Oman Hossein Noushabadi, quoted by Mehr News Agency.
Noushabadi made the remarks at a press conference in the Omani capital of Muscat on Wednesday.
“Based on our query, the [Persian Gulf Cooperation Council’s] mutual protection pact is for the purpose of foreign threats and not domestic confrontations. The protection pact or the Peninsula Shield Force applies to cases of foreign invasion; by standing between the demands of Bahrainis and their government and by countering their peaceful domestic movement they (foreign forces) are actually meddling in the internal affairs of this country (Bahrain),” Noushabadi stated.
Demonstrators in Bahrain have been demanding constitutional reforms as well as an end to the 230-year-old Al-Khalifa monarchy since February 14th.
Bahraini security forces have been brutally suppressing anti-government protesters. So far, at least 25 people have been killed, almost 100 have gone missing and about 1,000 others have been injured.
The violence against protesters escalated when Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates dispatched their armed forces to the tiny Persian Gulf country upon Manama’s request for help in cracking down on peaceful protesters.
——–Agencies