Muslims worldwide will not put up with KSA-Bahrain merger bid

Tehran’s interim Friday Prayers Leader Hojjatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi says neither the Bahraini nation nor Muslims worldwide will countenance the Saudi bid for merger with Bahrain.

“Though some Arab countries describe it as union, the reality is that the Bahraini regime is surrendering its identity to another country with utter ignominy, instead of paying heed to the demand of its own nation,” Seddiqi said.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to initially create a closer union with Bahrain in line with plans to unify the six Arab member states of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council.

The [P]GCC members, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, met in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Monday to discuss closer “union” among the six countries.

They failed to make a concrete decision on forming a confederation that would initially merge Saudi Arabia with Bahrain but agreed to continue further discussions over the plan, which was put forward by Saudi Arabia.

Although the exact nature of such union among the six Arab countries is unclear, reports say the Saudi unity proposal calls for economic, political and military coordination and a new decision-making body based in Riyadh to replace the bloc’s current secretariat.

Hojjatoleslam Seddiqi said Saudi Arabia will reap nothing more than disgrace from this initiative, just as it has not gained anything from its military presence in Bahrain to assist the Manama regime in its crackdown on the peaceful anti-government protests.

“Saudi Arabia is in a weak position,” Seddiqi stressed, saying if Riyadh had any power it would wrest back its two islands, Tiran and Sanafir, which have been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

The senior Iranian cleric further called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to end the silence of world bodies and atone for the previous disregard of the atrocities committed in Bahrain.

The UNHRC is set to discuss Bahrain’s human rights record in the upcoming session of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group in Geneva from May 21 to June 4.