Iran war spurs crackdown on clerics in tiny Gulf state Bahrain

Shaken by the accuracy of Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and support for them among some Bahrainis, authorities in the Gulf island nation have launched a crackdown on Shi’ite Muslim clerics they accuse of fostering allegiance to Tehran at home.

Bahraini officials have framed the move in existential terms, saying Iran seeks to undermine and ultimately topple the leadership of the only Gulf country that is ruled by a Sunni Muslim family but populated mostly by Shi’ites.

Critics, including rights groups, say the arrests and the stripping of citizenship from 69 citizens of Iranian heritage are a new blow to free speech and religious freedom in a country that crushed 2011 Arab Spring pro-democracy protests.

“We are confronting an ideology that demands obedience to Iran’s leadership above Bahrain’s sovereign authority,” Lt. Gen. Tariq Al Hassan, head of Bahrain’s Public Security agency responsible for internal security, tells Reuters in an interview.

The crackdown is a sign of how the Iran war has destabilized regional states allied with the United States that did not support the war but have borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks.

In Bahrain’s case, it has reversed a trend of internal and regional detente.

The government had freed hundreds of prisoners in jail for political activity via royal pardons in 2024, rights groups say. The same year, Bahrain and Iran began talks to restore diplomatic relations, severed since 2016.

Now, divisions are deepening, particularly among some Shi’ite Muslims in the country who say they are being oppressed for their beliefs.

“They are directly targeting Shi’ites in the country and anyone who criticizes the Americans or the Israelis for the war they have launched,” says a relative of one of the clerics on trial, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their safety.

Bahrain denies targeting Shi’ite citizens, “most of whom are law-abiding and loyal citizens,” Al Hassan says.

A verdict is expected in the case on November 8, and the kingdom is bracing for potential protests.