Bahrain stops Iran-backed terrorists from attacking diplomats, Saudi TV reports

Some of the terrorists were arrested, while others are believed to be in Iran, Saudi state TV reported.

By Associated Press

Bahrain broke up a plot by Iran-backed terrorists to launch attacks on diplomats and foreigners in the island nation home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, just days after normalizing relations with Israel, Saudi state television reported Sunday.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry and its state media did not immediately acknowledge the arrests.

Bahraini government officials, who routinely claim breaking up Iran-sponsored plots, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Saudi state TV report aired footage of what appeared to be police raiding a home with a hidden passage. The footage showed assault rifles and explosives, apparently seized in the raid.

A Saudi state TV reporter said those planning the attacks wanted to carry them out in revenge for the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani this January in a drone strike in Baghdad.

Some terrorists have been arrested, while others are believed to be in Iran, the Saudi state TV report said.

Iranian state media acknowledged the reports of the Bahraini arrests, but no official commented on them.

Bahrain is home to the 5th Fleet, which patrols the waterways of the Mideast. Officials have worried in the past that the sailors and Marines attached to the base in Manama could be targeted, as well as others who make up the 7,000 American troops there. Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the 5th Fleet, declined to comment and referred questions to the Bahraini government.

Bahrain, an island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia, just last week normalized relations with Israel alongside the United Arab Emirates. The Saudi state TV report did not mention that.