Bahrainis protest against Iran province claim

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

MANAMA, July 13 (Reuters) More than 800 Bahrainis gathered outside the Iranian embassy in Bahrain today to protest against comments by a hardline Iranian journalist that the Gulf Arab state belongs to Iran.

Sunni clerics and lawmakers were among the mostly Sunni Muslim protesters who chanted anti-Iranian slogans.

''This is a message to Iran not to infringe on Bahrain's sovereignty,'' protest organiser Mohammed al-Marran told Reuters.

''We, the nation of Bahrain, have been an Arab Muslim country from the dawn of Islam.'' Manama said it was seeking an explanation from Tehran over an article by Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the leading hardline daily Kayhan, that said Bahrain was a province of non-Arab Shi'ite Iran, and that Bahrainis were demanding the island's return to its ''native land''.

Iran's embassy has distanced itself from Shariatmadari's article and said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would address the issue during a trip to the tiny kingdom today. It was not clear whether the row triggered the visit.

The comments sparked anger in Bahrain, which has a majority Shi'ite population but is ruled by a Sunni royal family.

Sectarian tensions have flared in Bahrain in the past, as Shi'ites complain of discrimination in jobs and services.

Bahrain's shura council, or upper chamber of parliament, condemned Shariatmadari's comments.

U S-allied Bahrain hosts the U S Navy's Fifth Fleet, whose deployment of two aircraft carriers off Iranian waters in recent months has raised pressure on the Islamic Republic in its nuclear standoff with the West.

Iran says its nuclear enrichment programme is peaceful but Western powers suspect it is secretly building a bomb.

Reuters ARB RN1931

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