Bahrain’s special respect to Iran after the death of President Raisi was a clear sign that Manama looks for restoring relations with Tehran after nearly 9 years of stalemate. But will Iran show green light?
After the death of Iran’s President and his companions in a helicopter crash last month, more than 115 nations sent their heads of state or senior officials to Iran commemorate late president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Amirabdollahian.
Although the occasion was tragic due to the loss of a president, it was at the same time a diplomatic victory for Iran and a clear sign of Tehran’s improved international status.
In other words, many countries used the opportunity to come to Iran and show their respect for the late president as well as to mend their ties with the Islamic Republic.
But perhaps the most unexpected country that sent a representative to Tehran was Bahrain, a country that had severed its relations with Iran nine years ago. Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of Bahrain, sent his condolences to the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, and also sent his foreign minister to Tehran to pay his respects to the late president and foreign minister.
This was the first visit of a senior Bahraini diplomat to Iran in the last 13 years. Undoubtedly, part of this respect was due to the fact that the late Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian was Iran’s ambassador to Manama from 2007 to 2010.
Bahrain’s sympathy with Tehran contained a political message!
Bahrain’s special attention to Tehran was more than a simple expression of sympathy. At the same time as Iran commemorated the victims of the helicopter crash, King Hamad visited Moscow on May 23, where he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to mediate between Manama and Tehran to restore their relations.
According to news reports, the King of Bahrain openly informed the Russian President back then that his country is seeking to restore relations with Tehran. Hamad admitted in a video of their meeting that Manama had problems with Iran, but now things have changed.
During a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, King Hamad also reiterated Manama’s desire to reestablish ties with Tehran. He traveled to Beijing on Thursday to attend the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum. “We seek to resume diplomatic ties with Iran as a neighbor,” he said during the meeting.
Despite King Hamad’s statements and his desire to re-establish relations with Tehran, it seems that Iran is hesitant in this regard, the reasons for which are clear.
Why Iran is between thoughts to open arms to Bahrain?
The first and most important reason is Iran’s commitment to its co-religionists in the Bahraini society, because the majority of this country is Shia, which is governed by a Sunni minority.
The second reason is Bahrain’s relationship with Israel, which was established and formalized during the 2020 Abraham Accords in Washington.
Although Bahrain has since suspended economic relations with Israel and recalled its ambassador due to Tel Aviv’s brutal military attack on Gaza, Iran remains concerned about Israel’s presence in Bahrain.
The third reason is the presence of the US Navy’s fifth fleet based in Bahrain. Tehran’s declared goal is to expel the armed forces of the United States and other foreign countries from the region, and the presence of this fleet in Bahrain is an important obstacle to Iran’s realization of this goal. Bahrain is also home to the British Royal Naval Base, which was first established in 1935 and officially reopened in 2018.
Despite these obstacles, it is unlikely that Iran will reject Moscow’s mediation efforts. A Bahraini official has also recently revealed that Putin is going to mediate between Tehran and Manama soon.
