A foreign ministry statement, quoted on Thursday by the official BNA news agency, said the action was taken in response to “continuing interference by Iran in the affairs of the kingdom” and an attempt by Tehran to foment “confessional sedition”.
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Iran has repeatedly dismissed the accusations, saying the blame game Bahrain is playing is aimed at covering up the Arab country’s internal problems.
Bahrain yesterday recalled its ambassador from Tehran and declared the Iranian Charge D’affaires in Bahrain, Mohammad Reza Babaei, a “persona non grata”, giving him 72 hours to leave the country, a statement issued by the Bahraini Foreign Ministry revealed.
The kingdom is “evading its internal problems by passing the buck, instead of solving them” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told state television on Friday.
Bahrain, which has faced four years of unrest from Shiite activists demanding more political freedom, often accuses Iran of meddling in its internal affairs. Bahrain and its major ally, Saudi Arabia, worry about growing Iranian influence in the Mideast.
Tehran has denied involvement in any violence in Bahrain.
The cache purportedly included a tonne and a half of powerful explosive materials, automatic rifles, pistols and hand grenades.
However, Bahraini authorities announced late Wednesday they had seized 1.5 tons of explosives at a suspected militant hideout in a warehouse south of the capital, Manama.
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A statement by the Interior Ministry said: “After investigations, those arrested were found to have close links to terrorist elements in Iraq and Iran”, but the ministry did not disclose the number of those arrested or their affiliations.
