Bahrain must stop blame game, act wisely: Iran diplomat

A senior Iranian diplomat has called on Bahraini authorities to stop playing a blame game over domestic problems in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom and act with prudence.

“Bahraini officials have been facing problems inside their country for years and instead of thinking about ways to solve these problems, they are playing a blame game,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday.

He added that Bahrain has repeatedly leveled false accusations against the Islamic Republic.

He said the Bahraini government’s move to expel Iran’s charge d’affaires in Manama, Mohammad Reza Babaei, after declaring him persona non grata, showed “the climax of Bahrain’s political problems.”

Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that domestic problems in Bahrain would be solved through national dialog among all parties.

Iran has never interfered in Bahrain’s internal affairs and will never do so in the future, the Iranian diplomat pointed out.

Amir-Abdollahian’s remarks came after Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Friday gave the second highest-ranking diplomat at the Bahraini embassy in Tehran, Bassam Dalhan al-Dosari, 72 hours to leave Iran amid baseless allegations made by the Manama regime against Tehran.

The move was in reaction to a Thursday statement by the Bahraini Foreign Ministry, recalling its ambassador to Iran and ordering the Islamic Republic’s charge d’affaires in Manama to leave the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom within 72 hours.

This is not the first time the Al Khalifa regime has sought to implicate Iran over the ongoing instability in Bahrain.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed the accusations, saying the blame game Bahrain is playing is aimed at covering up the Arab country’s internal problems.

The Islamic Republic has urged the Bahraini government to stop pursuing a security approach toward the tensions in the country and solve its problems through dialog.

Since early 2011, anti-regime protesters in Bahrain have held numerous demonstrations on the streets of the country, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.