This is a footnote for you and something else to watch in your never ending puzzle that is the ME.
Word on the street is that Iran is behind the Shiite unrest in Bahrain. (#msg-10233024) The Shia community in Bahrain is of both Arab and Persian origin, and many follow Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
How much of the unrest if any can be attributed to Sistani, I wonder?.
This gives a little of regional relations and why Bahrain is important to the US.
Regional Relations and Anti-Terrorism Cooperation Iran is the regional state that most concerns Bahrain, particularlyfor Iran’s abilityto influence radical Shiite oppositionists there and out of fear that Iran might revive its pre- 1970 territorial claim to Bahrain (see above). The Shia community in Bahrain is of both Arab and Persian origin, and many follow Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Although Bahrain has consistentlyblamed Iran for the internal unrest since it began in late 1994, tensions peaked on June 3, 1996, when Bahrain publiclyclaimed to have uncovered an Iranian plot to destabilize Bahrain, acting through a local militant Shia group called Hizbollah Bahrain-Military Wing (related to Lebanese Hizbollah, a client of Iran). Bahrain had made a similar chargein December 1981, when it accused Iran of organizing a coup bythe Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain (IFLB). The IFLBnow operates as an opposition political movement and not a clandestine militant organization. Mohammad Khatemi, elected Iran’s president in May 1997, curbed Iranian support for Shiite dissident movements in the Gulf; Iran and Bahrain normalized relations in 1999.
Bahrain participated in the allied coalition that ousted Iraq from Kuwait in 1991, hosting 17,500 troops and 250 combat aircraft at Shaykh Isa Air Base. Bahraini pilots flew strikes over Iraq during the war, and Iraq fired nine Scud missiles at Bahrain during the conflict, of which three hit facilities there. After the 1991 Persian Gulf war against Iraq, the United States and Bahrain signed a 10-year defense pact (October 28, 1991), renewed in October 2001. The agreement reportedly provides U.S. access to Bahraini bases during a crisis, the pre-positioning of strategic materiel (mostly U.S. Air Force munitions), consultations with Bahrain if its security is threatened, and expanded exercises and U.S. training of Bahraini forces. 5 Bahrain hosted the regional headquarters for U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq during 1991-1998. However, it did not permit U.S. strikes on Iraq from Bahrain during Operation Desert Fox (December 16-19, 1998). Bahrain provided extensive support to the recent U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF), despite domestic opposition in Bahrain particularlyto the war in Iraq. Duringthe 1990s, Bahrain accommodated about 1,300 U.S. militarypersonnel participatingin operations to contain Iraq. During OEF, which began on October 7, 2001, Bahrain hosted about 4,000 U.S. military personnel. U.S. forces increased slightly, to about 4,500 for OIF, which began on March 19, 2003; most of the additional U.S. forces were U.S. Air Force personnel deploying to Shaykh Isa Air Base. Bahrain allowed the United States to fly combat missions from the base in both OEF and OIF. During OEF and OIF, Bahrain publicly deployed its U.S.-supplied frigate warship (the Subha) to help protect U.S. ships. In recognition of the close defense relationship, in March 2002, President Bush (Presidential Determination 2002-10) designated Bahrain a “major non-NATO ally (MNNA),” a designation that will facilitate future U.S. arms sales.
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