King Hamad: Iran has no role in Bahrain unrest

April 11, 2011 - 0:0

TEHRAN (FNA)- King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has told the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) ministerial meeting in Riyadh earlier this month that Iran is not involved in Bahrain's unrest, according to a report leaked on Sunday.

A source told the Fars News Agency on the condition of anonymity that King Hamad, who addressed the PGCC emergency meeting as a guest, said that Iran does not have any role in Bahrain's political developments, but his statements were ignored at the session since a number of other Arab countries felt unhappy with his remarks.
In a statement issued by the council against Iran at the end of an extraordinary meeting last Sunday, the council alleged that Iran is involved in Bahrain's uprising and called on Tehran to stop meddling in the internal affairs of the PGCC countries.
In the PGCC meeting, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates accused Iran of interfering in Bahrain's affairs after Tehran warned Riyadh that it was “playing with fire” by deploying troops in neighboring Bahrain.
Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's fifth fleet, is viewed as a very sensitive and determining factor in the power equations of the region.
While Tehran has just issued warnings against the massacre of the innocent people in Bahrain and has taken no action to interfere in the domestic affairs of the tiny Persian Gulf island Saudi Arabia has embarked on dispatching troops to Bahrain, killing peaceful protestors in the country.
Yet, the PGCC in its statement criticized Iran for expressing its views on Bahrain and ignored massacre of the Bahraini protestors by the Saudi troops.
To help the Bahraini government crush the anti-government protests, Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 1,000 troops to the country at the “request” of Manama.
In a similar move, the UAE has dispatched around 500 police forces to the oil-rich Persian Gulf monarchy.
Bahrain's government has continued its military crackdown on anti-government protesters who demand the overthrow of the al-Khalifa dynasty on top of constitutional reforms.
Several Bahrainis have lost their lives so far and hundreds have sustained injuries following the violent crackdown on the anti-government protesters.
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