Bahrain cuts diplomatic ties with Iran

Bahrain says it is severing its diplomatic ties with Iran and has called upon Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours.

 

Isa al-Hamadi, the Bahraini minister of media affairs, made the announcement on Monday amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, after Saturday’s attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran during protests against executions in the kingdom.

 

Bahrain frequently accuses Iran of being behind protests among its Shia population.

 

Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on Sunday after Iranian protesters attacked its embassy in Tehran, following the kingdom’s decision to execute Shia religious figure Nimr al-Nimr along with 46 other convicts on terrorism charges.

 

Iran’s foreign ministry said that Saudi Arabia was using the attack on its embassy in Tehran as a pretext to fuel tensions – after being given a 48-hour deadline to remove its diplomatic mission from Riyadh.

 

“Iran … is committed to provide diplomatic security based on international conventions. But Saudi Arabia, which thrives on tensions, has used this incident as an excuse to fuel the tensions,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said in televised remarks on Monday.

 

Read More: Bahrain cuts diplomatic ties with Iran – Al Jazeera English