Following Riyadh’s lead, Bahrain cuts ties with Iran

Bahrain has cut diplomatic ties with Iran one day after Saudi Arabia likewise severed relations with the Islamic republic.

On Monday, Bahraini Information Minister Isa al-Hammadi announced that Bahrain’s Council of Ministers had decided to cut relations with Tehran, going on to demand the departure of all Iranian diplomats from the kingdom within 48 hours.

The move was announced at a press conference convened by al-Hammadi following a weekly council meeting.

One day earlier, Saudi Arabia officially announced it had cut ties with Iran after its diplomatic missions in Tehran and the Iranian city of Mashhad were both attacked by Iranian protesters.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir announced the move at a press conference in capital Riyadh, where he gave Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave Saudi Arabia.

Following the execution on Saturday of 47 convicts by the Saudi authorities — including prominent Shia cleric Nimr Baqir al-Nimr — Iranian demonstrators stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and the Saudi consulate in Mashhad.

Protestors torched the embassy building before eventually being dispersed by Iranian security forces.

Before his arrest in July of 2012, al-Nimr had led mass protests against the Saudi authorities in the kingdom’s eastern, majority-Shia Qatif province.

Following al-Nimr’s execution on Saturday, Iran summoned Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires in Tehran to strongly condemn the move.

The following day, Iran warned that Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia would pay “a heavy price” for the Shia cleric’s death.

Fierce regional rivals, Riyadh and Tehran currently support opposing sides in conflicts in both Syria and Yemen.