File photo Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (R) with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
A senior Iranian cleric has condemned the Saudi plan for merger with Bahrain, calling on Bahraini nation to exercise vigilance and seek to foil the US plot.
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani said on Friday that Bahrani political activists and people, thanks to their alertness, will not allow Washington and its mercenaries to carry out their policies in the tiny Persian Gulf state.
Meanwhile, Iranians took to the streets on Friday to protest against Saudi Arabia’s bid for a merger with Bahrain as well as the Manama regime’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
The protesters in Tehran and several other major cities staged rallies following the Friday Prayers, denouncing the plan as treason against Bahraini people.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to initially create a closer union with Bahrain in line with plans to unify the six Arab member states of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council.
In December 2011, Saudi King Abdullah called on the council members to move “beyond the stage of cooperation and into the stage of unity in a single entity.”
Although the exact nature of such union among the six Arab countries is unclear, reports say the Saudi unity proposal calls for economic, political and military coordination and a new decision-making body based in Riyadh to replace the bloc’s current secretariat.
Since the beginning of Bahrain's revolution in February 2011, large numbers of anti-government protesters have poured into the streets across the oil-rich state to call on the ruling family to leave power.
Bahrainis have been holding anti-government demonstrations since mid-February 2011, calling on the US-backed Al Khalifa family to leave power.
On March 14, 2011, more than 1,000 Saudi troops entered Bahrain to assist the Manama government in crushing the popular protests in the Persian Gulf Island.
MP/MA
