Following the intensification of protests in Bahrain, the Bahraini government stepped up its crackdown on demonstrators and Saudi Arabia and other neighboring countries sent troops to Manama to quell the unrest. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates also made a trip to Bahrain to help resolve the issue.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has criticized the dispatch of Saudi troops to Bahrain to suppress the popular uprising as “unacceptable.”
“The presence of foreign forces and interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs is unacceptable and will further complicate the issue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday.
“The people have some legitimate demands and they are expressing them peacefully,” Memanparast said.
There should not be a violent response, he added.
The Foreign Ministry also summoned the Swiss and Saudi ambassadors to Tehran on Tuesday to protest against the U.S.-backed military intervention in Bahrain.
Later, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi held telephone conversations with Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa to discuss the latest developments in Bahrain.
Majlis opposed to Saudi intervention
Iranian MPs issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing the foreign military intervention in Bahrain and voicing support for the popular movements in the Middle East and North Africa protesting against dictatorial regimes.
Saudi military forces’ intervention in Bahrain will have serious consequences for the Saudi government, the statement, which was signed by 257 MPs, said.
The MPs also expressed support for the revolutionary people of Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and other nations that have risen up against illegitimate puppet regimes.
“The U.S. officials’ trips to Egypt, their planning for military intervention in Libya, and the U.S. defense secretary’s visit to Bahrain, which provoked an intensification of violent actions by the Bahraini police against the people and resulted in the dispatch of Saudi troops to Bahrain, are examples of unfair and desperate efforts by the Great Satan and its allies,” the MPs said.
Elsewhere in the statement, the lawmakers called on the military forces of regional countries to join the popular uprisings and help the efforts to depose the dictators.
U.S., Saudi Arabia will face consequences of their actions
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said that the countries that sent troops to suppress the Bahraini demonstrators will pay the price for their U.S.-backed military intervention.
Addressing lawmakers during a Majlis session on Tuesday, Larijani said that with the decision to send troops to Bahrain, “the U.S. and regional countries have angered the Bahraini people, and the people’s rage will certainly take its toll on their glass palaces.”
The parliament speaker also said that Gates’ recent visit to Bahrain was Washington’s green light for the massacre of Bahraini protesters, and added that the visit showed that the United States has a double-standard policy toward ongoing developments in the region.
AM/HG
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MNA
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