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Bahrain breaks up weapon, explosives smuggling attempt

Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Tehran for consultations on Saturday after what it said were repeated hostile statements made by the officials of the regime in Tehran, and foiled a bid to smuggle in high-grade explosives and arms in the same day, Reuters reported.

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Two Bahraini suspects on board were arrested.

According to the statement, he was given money by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to buy the boat and the men received the weapons off the coast of Iran.

Parliament’s foreign affairs committee had a short time before the announcement of the envoy’s recall demanded an extraordinary Arab summit to discuss “Iranian interference”.

There was no immediate comment from Iran on the Bahraini statement.

Sunni Muslim-ruled Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, often accuses Iran, a Shi’ite Muslim theocracy, of seeking to subvert Bahrain. Iran has strongly denied any manner of interference stating that it only supports attempts to address human rights violations in the tiny Persian Gulf state.

This latest incident follows a number of failed attempts to smuggle explosive materials into Bahrain recently.

It said its investigation and questioning of the pair revealed that one of them was trained in Iran in August 2013 and “underwent intensive training in making and using explosives”. “The two suspects have admitted receiving the shipment from Iranian handlers outside Bahrain’s territorial waters”, the ministry said.

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Two Bahraini suspects were arrested after the Bahrain Coast Guard, in coordination with the Police Aviation Unit and Bahrain Royal Naval Force, intercepted a vessel heading towards Bahrain, the Interior Ministry said.

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