Revolution of the Oppressed Will Not Stop

The first point I need to mention is that Bahrain is of significance in the public conscience of Iranian society and this country’s significance is not due to the official policies of the government, but rather the feeling of solidarity Iranians feel with the people of Bahrain in different layers of this society. It is one of the rare foreign policy issues on which consensus exists and all political groups and the public conscience of the society pay attention to the developments in Bahrain. Incidentally, Bahrain is an issue to which people demand the government pay more attention. This is while the government naturally attempts to act with more caution in this regard within the framework of international commitments and political norms and a bit under the influence of the atmosphere of enmity against Iran in the region.

But what are the reasons behind Bahrain’s importance for Iran? The official response is that only four decades have passed since the separation of Bahrain from Iran. This separation has not resulted in the destruction of the deep social and historical relations between the two countries. The other point is the incorrect public conception that since the majority of Iranian people are Shiites, our government officials view this issue only on the basis of Shiites and Sunnis. This is one of the most obvious mistakes and the government of Bahrain insists on this matter to divert the world’s attention from the nature of the developments.

A look at Bahraini society shows that the links between Iran and Bahrain are much deeper than the issue of Shiites or Sunnis. 60% of Bahraini society is comprised of the Bahranis or the Shiites. Next to the Bahranis are the Ajams. Currently, there are 100,000 Bahrainis who are originally the Iranians who gained Bahraini citizenship following the independence of Bahrain. The third group are the Sunnis of Bahrain, called the Huwalas. This group has family connections with the northern Persian Gulf and the Sunni areas of the southern Persian Gulf and northern Hormozgan. One of the historical misinterpretations during past decades has been about the identity of the Bahraini population. Overseas, the residence of the Huwalas is believed to be the Najd region which is 100% incorrect. Even the last names of the Huwalas indicate their ties to the southern parts of Iran, places like Lar, Koohaj, Jinah and Awaz.

 A look at the culture and history of Bahrain shows that Iran and Bahrain are closely related. For example, the first school established in this country was Ittihad School which belonged to the Iranians and, for years, worked under Bushehr Education Bureau, until 1971.

With this history of expanded relations between Iran and Bahrain, unfortunately, whenever Bahrain is mentioned in Iran, we are accused of interfering in the internal affairs of this country. This is while during the past two years, Iran has had the least interference in Bahrain. In all of the western countries which are allies of al-Khalifa, the parliaments and non-governmental organizations have repeatedly issued statements about Bahrain, including Britain’s House of Commons, the European Parliament, and the US Congress and Senate. But neither the government nor the non-governmental institutions or Iran’s Parliament has ever adopted a statement in this regard. Last week, Human Rights Watch sent a delegation to Manama to visit the prisons and evaluate their conditions. In their report, it was reiterated that no development has occurred in line with reaching an understanding with the opposition.  The depth of the issues in Bahrain is so much that even al-Khalifa’s allies can no longer remain silent and are now accused of following a double-standard policy.

The uprisings in Bahrain began on February 14^th, 2011, three days after the downfall of Husni Mubarak, the Egyptian dictator.  The Shiites, who make up the majority of Bahraini society, have never had a role in the country’s administration. The British have always played a very serious and considerable role in Bahrain. They have always had a high-ranking advisor in Manama. This matter has always existed, before and after Bahrain’s independence. In 2011, a British officer who was dismissed from his job on accusations of eavesdropping, was employed by the government of Bahrain and is now in charge of organizing the police of Bahrain. The people of Bahrain have struggled against the British colonizers since 1820, but relations between Bahrain and Britain have never been cut off since 1971; its shape and form has only been changed. The people of Bahrain, whether the Bahranis, the Ajams, or the Huwalas, have never had a share in the government. Discrimination, poverty, and corruption have frustrated the totality of the people in Bahrain. This history shows that the Bahrainis did not blindly follow the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. It has also been mentioned in western media that the most peaceful uprising in the Arab Spring movement belongs to Bahrain. Between February 14^th and March 13^th, the streets of Manama were filled with 220,000 to 300,000 people every day. There were negotiations between the Prince and the moderate opposition to solve the problems. Bahrain’s opposition demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister, holding fair parliamentary elections, and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.  The al-Wefaq political party, which is the major opposition group, was the party which negotiated with the Prince.  The US Defense Secretary of the time, Robert Gates, was also present in Manama during these negotiations. At that time, Washington also exerted pressure on Manama to hold these talks. But two days after Gates left Manama, Saudi Arabia dispatched its forces to this city. The Saudis justify their presence within the framework of the Island Shield. This is while there was no foreign intervention in Bahrain that necessitated the presence of Saudi forces. The intertwined interests of the US and Saudi Arabia at that time, prevented the White House and Obama himself from challenging this measure taken by Riyadh.  Following the downfall of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, Saudi Arabia has challenged the US and believes that the policies of the White House will lead to Riyadh losing its friends in the Arab countries.  On this basis, Saudi Arabia took initiatives in Yemen and Bahrain in order to prevent the transfer of power in its strategic realm.

The composition of talks between al-Khalifa and the opposition does not have any sign of seriousness but today Bahrain is faced with two scenarios:

1.       The government of Bahrain reaches an agreement with the moderate and legal opposition hoping that this agreement would lead to calming the political situation and a reduction in protests.

2.       The transformation of Bahrain into a second Gaza: The history of developments over the past two years has shown that the people of Bahrain will not retreat. The Bahraini protesters, after two years of resistance, have nothing to lose. Today, the oppressed people who have been deprived of their most obvious political and social rights during the past 4 decades have stood up against al-Khalifa.