Iran says it offers 'moral' support to Bahrainis

By Farhad Pouladi (AFP)

TEHRAN — Iran said on Friday it gives "moral support" to the demands of Bahrain's people but without any involvement in the Shiite-led protests in the Gulf kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

"Other than offering moral support to the legitimate and peaceful demands of the people," Tehran has "no role in the events," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a statement emailed to AFP.

His remarks came after a joint GCC-European Union statement issued on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi backed the March 14 deployment of a Saudi-led Gulf force including UAE police in Bahrain.

The move freed up Bahraini security forces to crush the protest movement in the only Shiite-majority Arab state of the Gulf, in a move repeatedly condemned by Shiite-dominant Iran.

The GCC-EU statement said the two blocs played up "the importance of respect for the sovereignty of GCC members" -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- and "recognized the GCC is entitled to take all necessary measures to protect their citizens."

But Mehmanparast hit out at the European Union.

"Doesn't your silence in the face of these crimes show you taking sides in the situation and adopting double standards?" he asked.

On Monday, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa said the Gulf troops had entered his country "to deter an external threat," a reference to Iran.

Tension between Iran and its Arab neighbors across the Gulf has risen, with the two sides locked in a war of words since the Shiite-led protests against Bahrain's ruling Sunni dynasty broke out in mid-February.

But Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed Sabah al-Salem Al-Sabah said on Thursday that Arab states in the Gulf were opposed to a break in relations with Tehran, even as he renewed charges of Iranian meddling in Arab affairs.

Twenty-four people were killed in the month-long uprising in Bahrain, according to its interior ministry. Four others have died since in detention, drawing condemnation from the EU, Washington and rights groups.

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported on Friday that two boats carrying Iranian students from the southern port city of Bushehr and heading to Bahrain were stopped and turned back by the Iranian coast guards.

Iranian protesters, meanwhile, continued with their sit-in outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran for a second consecutive day, as part of a three-day demonstration.

MP Mehdi Kouchakzadeh, addressing them, said the "hand of God" will "destroy the bloodthirsty regime of Al-Saud soon," he said, quoted by Fars news agency, in reference to the Saudi kingdom's ruling dynasty.

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