Bahrain on Tuesday accused Iran’s state-run radio of “interfering in Bahrain’s internal affairs” and lodged a complaint at the Iranian embassy in Manama, reported the official Bahraini news agency, GNA.
It said that the foreign ministry summoned Iran’s charge de affairs at the Iranian embassy in Manama to “inquire about the reasons that prompted Radio Tehran to raise some issues related to the internal affairs of the state of Bahrain and to protest such interference.”
“The Bahraini Foreign Ministry regretted this policy followed by Radio Tehran in intervening in the internal affairs of the state of Bahrain, which does not agree with the principles of good neighborhood and the aspiration of establishing good relations between Bahrain and Iran,” said GNA.
The Iranian charge de affairs told the ministry that he would follow up with the concerned bodies in his country about these inquiries.
GNA did not elaborate on the reasons behind the government's protests, but sources in Manama told AFP that Radio Tehran had accused Bahraini authorities of involvement in a dispute over the management of a Shiite Muslim community hall.
The dispute between two Shiite Muslim groups has lasted several days and escalated into violent confrontations over the past weekend that left several injured and damaged property in the Manama suburb of Jid Hafs.
Bahrain normalized relations with Iran after 1997, with the rise to power of Iran's reformist president, Mohammad Khatami.
Bahrain had previously accused Tehran of being behind troubles in the country, where a Sunni ruling family governs a mainly Shiite population – Albawaba.com
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