Iranian hands involved in political conflict in Bahrain

Middle East Online

The conflict in Bahrain may seem to some as if it is between young protestors and the authority, but a look back at the role of the Shiite Ulammae Council would reveal the extent of historical involvement of Iran in the crisis.

The case of Shiites in Bahrain is not a casual or temporary one, but an old and continuing issue. It is represented in the relationship between a ruler and the ruled, a king and a sheikh, and Persians and Arabs. There may be similar cases in several Arab countries, where there is blockage in political relations. But the case in Bahrain is more complicated as multiple factors are involved, perhaps the most important of which is the sectarian and racial identity. Researcher Abdul-Aziz al-Khamis review the political conflict in Bahrain.

Sectarianism can be seen by many to play an important role in the Bahraini political conflict. Bahrain may have been on its way to presenting a unique model of peaceful co-existence and relations, governed by a constitution and freedoms. However, politicians reached a deadlock. It has been suggested that if they had sought for a way out of this situation this could have been prevented. However rather than striving to solve this issue, they were busy fighting, and the streets of Manama and Al-Mahraq turned into battlefields, where young people prevailed, hooligans had their landmarks, and where liars specialized in modifying pictures, be they officials or oppositionists.

Who has led Bahrain to a new Karbala (in reference to the historical battle in Iraq when Imam Hussein was killed)? Who thought that blood could bring a citizen closer to a homeland that loves life? Is it the turban- and robe-wearing Sunnis and Shiites? Or is it the intransigence of a ruling regime that would not like to lose its control and interests, and allows citizens to get involved in political life only with conditions?

Has the political decision maker in Bahrain become preoccupied solely with foiling protests and benefiting from the support of lookalike regimes? Or is it the religious decision maker that went out of his mosque to pollute his purity with politics and share it with politicians, exploiting the simple people and their emotions under the guise of things that are holy?

Where is Bahrain heading to? Has it become a new Lebanon and a Saudi-Iranian fighting ring? Where are the wise men of a country that enjoyed civilized institutions and was the pearl of the Gulf, at a time when its neighbours were leading a life of hardships?

What is the map of Shiite forces in Bahrain, being the important player on the Bahraini political stage? Where do the majority of Shiite forces stand, and with whom? Perhaps more importantly, against which forces?

In this paper, we review the conflict between the Bahraini regime and the Shiite forces in that small island.

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