A cleric urged Manama to release Bahraini opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman arrested early this week. Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi, who led this week’s Friday prayers in Tehran, said the Bahraini government should “heed the warning by (Grand) Ayatollah (Ali Hossein) Sistani (Iraq’s most influential cleric) and release Sheikh Salman as soon as possible.” Bahraini forces on Sunday detained Salman who leads the country’s main opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. Seddiqi said Salman’s detention is “illegal” and “immoral”, calling on the Bahraini rulers to “come to their senses” and heed international calls for Salman’s release.
