Iran’s Larijani: Recent Incidents in Bahrain Pose Human Rights Test to US, Britain
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani deplored the Bahraini regime for its recent move to revoke the citizenship of the most prominent Shiite cleric in the Arab country on political grounds, saying the move also poses a test to the self-proclaimed advocates of human rights.
Speaking at an open session of the parliament on Tuesday morning, Larijani denounced the revocation of Sheikh Isa Qassim’s nationality by the Bahraini regime as clumsy and an act of adventurism, saying, “The Americans and the British, who have control over the tiny country’s destiny today, are facing another test.”
He added that the response by the US and Britain to the Manama regime’s crackdown will show how they justify “this primitive behavior” which is against their claims on human rights.
The parliament speaker further said the Al Khalifa regime wrongly thinks it can resolve its political crisis by stripping Sheikh Qassim of his citizenship.
Bahrain said Monday that the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.
It came days after a regime’s court issued an order earlier suspending the activities of Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, on charges of “terrorism, extremism, and violence”.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Amnesty International and many other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime for the rampant human rights abuses against opposition groups and anti-regime protesters.
Source: tasnimnews.com
