“The irresponsible statements contravene the principles of the United Nations, the international law and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which all advocate utter respect of all countries’ sovereignty and independence,” Hamad Al Amer, Undersecretary for Regional Affairs and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said.
The official was reacting to a statement by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussain Amir-Abdollahian in which he criticised a search operation conducted by the police in the house of Eisa Qassim, a leading religious scholar, in Duraz, a village west of the capital Manama. “If you do not apologise for this improper act, you should expect an unexpected reaction,” the Iranian official was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
Bahrain police had explained that the search operation did not target a specific house or a specific person.
“A police patrol in Duraz was attacked by a suspect with a homemade gun that injured two policemen,” Tareq Al Hassan, the Chief of Public Security, said. “The Counter-Terrorism Unit was called in to track down the shooter. As part of the investigation, a vehicle thought to be the suspects’ car was found parked near several homes. The area was cordoned off and a search for the terrorists inside those homes was conducted. The operation did not target a particular house or a person. Our main aim was to seize the car and to arrest the suspects that had originally led investigators to the area.”
Al Amer on Saturday evening said that the Iranian behaviour towards Bahrain was unacceptable.
“Senior Iranian officials and on a daily basis talk about Bahrain more than they do about their country’s policy and interests or about their people’s untenable economic and social plight”, Al Amer said, in a statement issued by the foreign ministry and carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA).