Iran blasts Bahrain for making peace with Israel

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denounced the Israel-Bahrain peace deal, calling it a “threat to security in West Asia and the Muslim world.”

By Associated Press

Iran on Saturday strongly condemned Bahrain’s plan to normalize relations with Israel, calling it a shameful and ignominious move by the Gulf Arab country.

Bahrain’s announcement Friday followed a similar normalization agreement last month by the United Arab Emirates, a fellow U.S. ally. The two Arab nations’ establishment of full relations with Israel is part of a broader push by the Trump administration create stability in a region plagued by Iranian terror proxies.

Tehran’s arch rival Saudi Arabia may also be close to a deal.

In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Bahrain’s normalization “will remain in the historical memory of the oppressed and downtrodden people of Palestine and the world’s free nations forever.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also denounced Bahrain’s move using similar language, calling it a betrayal of the Palestinian people and a “threat to security in West Asia and the Muslim world.”

The agreements by the UAE and now Bahrain are a setback for Palestinian leaders, who demand that Arab nations withhold recognition of the Jewish state until they have secured an independent state, something they were offered and rejected in the latest U.S. peace proposals.

The Palestinians were also offered around $50 billion in economic incentives in the proposal, but responded by launching near-total boycott of the White House.

The Palestinians have seen a steady erosion in once-unified Arab support — one of the few cards they still held as leverage against Israel — since President Donald Trump began pursuing an aggressive, non-conventional approach to peace in the region.

So far, the Trump push has yielded two peace agreements, with Sudan and Oman also reportedly mulling a open relations with Israel.

The statement from the Foreign Ministry of Iran, deemed the world’ top state sponsor of terror by the U.S., also said Bahrain’s government and the other supporting governments would be held accountable for any act by Israel that causes insecurity in the Persian Gulf region.

The island of Bahrain lies just off the coast of Saudi Arabia, and is among the world’s smallest countries, only about 760 square kilometers (290 square miles).

Bahrain’s location in the Persian Gulf long has made it a trading stop and a naval defensive position. The island is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and a recently built British naval base.

Like Iran, Bahrain’s population is majority Shiite, and the country has been ruled since 1783 by the Sunni Al Khalifa family.

Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has armed opposition groups on the island, according to Bahrain. Iran denies the accusations.