A senior Foreign Ministry official said Bahraini officials should try to solve their "deep" internal problems, instead of making divisionary statements.
Deputy Foreign Minister Morteza Sarmadi made the statement in reaction to Bahraini official's allegation of Tehran's “blatant interference” in the Persian Gulf kingdom’s domestic affairs, IRNA reported. Referring to constant unrests in Bahrain, Sarmadi said Bahraini officials prefer to put the blame on others for the problems created by themselves, rather than seeking to observe their people's rights to defuse tensions.
Bahrain summoned Iran’s Charge D’affaires Hamid Shafizadeh on Saturday and presented an official protest note to him over Iran’s support for "the Bahraini people’s demand for democracy".
The note objected to Iran's “blatant interference in Bahrain’s domestic affairs and an abuse of the kingdom’s sovereignty and independence”, Bahrain News Agency quoted the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry as saying. In a separate reaction, Vice Chairman of Majlis Foreign Policy and National Security Commission Hossein Sobhani-Nia said in an interview with ICANA that it is Iran's policy to not interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries, but it will take a stance against human rights violations in the Arab country. Sobhani-Nia said the reason behind making such allegations is to divert attention from the violations of Bahraini nation's rights, which have resulted in popular protests.
"We have often seen such allegations being made by Bahraini officials regarding Iran's contribution to insecurities in Bahrain," he said.
The lawmaker said the Bahraini people want their rights to be respected, while a tiny minority rules the country and treats them as second-class citizens.
"Bahrain does not recognize the minimum rights of its own people and uses these accusations to justify crimes it commits against them," he said.
Sobhani-Nia added that Bahrain is not an independent state and acts according to the way other countries like Saudi Arabia want.
On November 5, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry claimed it had arrested 47 members of a group with ties to “terror elements in Iran” and was also plotting attacks, which was rejected by Iranian officials as "baseless allegations".
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Bahraini government for its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, including detention of activists, violent methods to disperse demonstrators and a media blackout on rallies.
Since 2011, Bahrain has faced protests in which Shias, who are in a majority, demand political reforms, but the government has always rejected the idea.
