Several Bahraini lawmakers support Iran terror group

Several lawmakers in the Bahraini parliament have urged the Manama regime to provide further support to an ethnic Arab group involved in terrorist activities inside Iran.

Five members of a far-right group in the Bahraini parliament have reportedly issued a proposal, calling on the government to recognize the so-called Ahwaz secessionists, a group involved in terror activities in Iran.

The pro-opposition Mera’t al-Bahrain website said on Wednesday the lawmakers also urged the Bahraini government to do more in support of terrorist activities inside Iran, adding that Manama should fund groups involved in such acts and give them enough spiritual backing.

They also called on other Arab states of the Persian Gulf region to intensify efforts for recognizing the Iranian southern province of Khuzestan, which is home to a significant population of Arabs, as an ‘independent country.’

Terror groups claiming to be advocating the Iranian Arabs have claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks on civilians, including a major bombing in the provincial capital of Khuzestan in April 2005 which killed six and injured 90 more people.

The petition by Bahraini lawmakers is the latest in a string of measures Manama has adopted over the past four years to lay the blame on Iran for a popular uprising in the Arab country. Since March 2011, Bahrain has seen anti-government protests with people taking into the streets almost on a daily basis to call for a change in the kingdom’s political system.

Manama has responded with a heavy-handed crackdown, killing scores of protesters and detaining hundreds more, including prominent opposition leaders.

Defying an international outcry over the crackdown, Bahrain has repeatedly accused the neighboring Iran of providing support to the country’s majority Shia population. Iran has denied the accusation, calling on Manama to respect the popular demands for reform and change in the kingdom.