Iran summons Bahraini charge d’affaires

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Manama’s envoy in Tehran over a Bahraini court’s decision to sentence an Iranian national to death.

The Iranian foreign ministry called in the Bahraini charge d’affaires to object to the ruling and condemn the manner in which several Iranian nationals were arrested in Bahrain, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

The ministry also complained that the Iranian citizens have had no access to lawyers and called on Manama to announce the names of the Iranians detained in the Persian Gulf state and provide them with diplomatic access.

Since the beginning of anti-regime protests in Bahrain in mid-February, Manama has launched a harsh crackdown on anti-government protesters, rounding up senior opposition figures and activists in raids and arresting doctors, nurses, lawyers and journalists who have voiced support for the protest movement.

Scores of protesters have been killed and many others have gone missing ever since the protests broke out.

The anti-government protesters have been staging demonstrations on Bahrain’s streets to demand that the Al Khalifa dynasty relinquish power.

Bahraini regime forces, backed by Saudi army troops and mercenaries, launched a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters and abducted hundreds of people.