Bahrain has launched a crackdown on Shia Muslim clerics it accuses of fostering allegiance to Tehran, Reuters reported on Friday, 6 November. The move follows the accuracy of Iran's attacks on the Gulf island nation during the war that began in February, and support for those attacks expressed by some Bahrainis.

Between May and June, the authorities arrested more than 50 clerics and religious orators, accusing them of trying to run a terrorist group that sought to incite rebellion and overthrow the country's ruling order with help from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. Around a dozen people have been sentenced to between five and ten years in prison for allegedly expressing support for Iran's attacks, and critics say 69 citizens of Iranian heritage have been stripped of their citizenship.

Rights groups allege torture and unfair trial

On Friday, 20 rights groups including Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy released a statement raising allegations of torture, coerced confessions and other due process violations in the case. A statement by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) says the proceedings involve 69 defendants, including 60 Shia clerics, with 56 of them in custody.

A verdict in the case is expected on Sunday, 8 November, and the kingdom is bracing for potential protests. Bahrain's head of public security, Lt. Gen. Tariq Al Hassan, spoke to Reuters about the case, while Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The crackdown shows how the Iran war has unsettled Gulf states allied with the United States that did not support the war but bore the brunt of Iran's retaliation. Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, is the only Gulf country ruled by a Sunni family but populated mostly by Shias, and it crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011.