Alwaght- A high ranking Iranian military commander has called for a neutral international probe on the ruling al-Khalifa dynasty's claim of having Bahraini origins.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi has expressed regret that the current Bahraini ruler has turned the country into a prison in which people are tortured.
"One of the high-ranking Bahraini security officials told me in a meeting 34 years ago that the al-Khalifa are stateless pirates and Saudi Arabia assisted them to rule Bahrain island nation with the help of the British and Bahraini are fed up with them and eagerly wait for the emancipation of their nation from the hands of Saudi mercenaries," Firouzabadi said on Tuesday night.
Major General Hassan Firouzabadi's remarks came after the Bahraini regime issued a statement on Monday illegally revoking the citizenship of the country's top Islamic scholar Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassim.
Bahrain, a close ally of the Britain and the US in the Persian Gulf region, has seen a wave of anti-government protests since mid-February 2011. Manama’s heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations with the help of Saudi Arabia has left scores of people dead and hundreds more injured.
The latest move by the Bahrain regime against the country’s main opposition figures came as the Al-Khalifah regime is exerting mounting pressure on the opposition.
The move has ignited protests in the tiny Persian Gulf Island with dozens of supporters of the prominent cleric gathered at his home in the village of Diraz to protest withdrawal of his citizenship. The international community including the United Nations has condemned the Bahraini regime for withdrawing Sheikh Qassim's citizenship.
“It is unfortunate that instead of pressing forward with the recommendations made by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, which was appointed by the King in 2011, the government has instead sought to undermine the enjoyment of civil and political rights in the country,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said.
