TEHRAN (Dispatches) – A top Iranian military official on Wednesday called for the citizenship of Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifah family to be examined after the regime revoked the nationality of a top Shia cleric.
"Impartial international organizations should now examine the citizenship status of the Al Khalifah in Bahrain,” Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said.
The commander was reacting to a recent decision by the Manama regime to strip Sheikh Isa Qassim, Bahrain’s most senior Shia cleric, of his citizenship.
Firouzabadi said such a review, if carried out, would save the Bahraini people from more repression. International bodies, he said, should also study the mysteries surrounding the 1961 death of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifah, the father of the current ruler of Bahrain.
Firouzabadi said the Al Khalifah regime had been propped up by Saudi Arabia through the British assistance, adding the ruling clique in Bahrain is comprised of "pirates” that have turned the country into a prison for torturing people.
The Iranian general said people in Bahrain are fed up with their repressive regime, adding they eagerly wait for the emancipation of their nation from the hands of the Saudi mercenaries.
Bahrain, a close ally of the U.S. in the Persian Gulf region, has seen a wave of protests since mid-February 2011. Manama’s heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations with the help of Saudi Arabia has left scores of people dead and hundreds more injured.
On Tuesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) denounced the decision against Sheikh Qassim, saying the Saudi regime was behind it.
In a statement, the IRGC said the "inhumane” measure by the "bloodthirsty and racist” Al Khalifah regime contradicts citizenship rights, Islamic principles and values, recognized international norms and regulations as well as the dignity of the people of the Arab world, including the Bahrainis.
It added that revoking the cleric’s citizenship is "a product of the anti-Islamic strategy and policies of the hegemonic system and Zionism and is considered a Saudi plot.”
"There is no doubt that the unwise measure of Al Khalifah against a character who is a prominent symbol of the grand Shia clerical society will fuel the flames of Bahrain’s Islamic Revolution and formation of a sweeping uprising against the dependent and ruling regime of this country,” the IRGC pointed out.
The statement said the "illegitimate and rotten” Bahraini regime is suffering from "political osteoporosis” and is committing crimes against the innocent Bahraini people backed by the Pharaonic ruthlessness of the Saudi regime.
It further warned that if the leaders of the Al Khalifah regime do not renounce their Zionist-pleasing adventurism and surrender to the rightful demands of the Bahraini people, they will face a fate similar to that of the slain dictators of other Muslim countries.
Bahrain on Monday revoked the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim, accusing him of sowing "sectarianism and violence."
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry claimed in a statement that Sheikh Qassim actively sought the "creation of a sectarian environment” through his connections with foreign powers.
The ministry claimed that the cleric had misused his religious position to advance a political agenda and serve foreign interests.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said in a statement that the decision against the top Shia cleric "is yet another blow to freedom of speech and expression in Bahrain” and is "part of an escalating crackdown on freedoms and rights.”
It urged the government to "immediately and unconditionally reinstate the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim and all those affected,” saying that it had documented evidence of at least 261 cases since 2012.