Hawzah News Agency - The Al Khalifa regime in Bahrain, with backing from the US and Saudi Arabia, has been, since spark of the popular protests in Bahrain in February 2014, using a variety of instruments to counter the protestor's demands that included calls for reforming the present legal structures, particularly the constitution.  

The Bahraini regime tries to paint the country’s revolutionary developments as a security concern in a bid put forward the need to face the opposition groups. 

The major counter-uprising measures by the regime included displaying the developments as a sectarian conflict, censoring the media, linking the peaceful domestic protests to Iran and Lebanon, and most importantly trying the opposition figures in the military courts.   

A large number of the former lawmakers, top clerics, human rights activists, doctors, civilians, and even women are now serving their terms in prison. 

But all of these measures failed to suppress the anti-regime protests and people’s moves to press for government reforms and securing their own rights.   

This pushed the Bahraini regime to detain and imprison Shaykh Isa Qasim, the spiritual leader of the Bahraini revolution, to strike the backbone of the uprising.  

Actually getting him away from his supporters could hit the center of the protest movement.   

But Al Khalifa's uncalculated measure could work like a double-edged sword.  

Perhaps distancing the leader of the uprising could slow down the developments of uprising, however, the regime failed to predict that this approach could upgrade the peaceful demonstrations to a violent stage. 

The domestic and regional feedbacks of detention of the top Shiite cleric appear to have been successful to beware the regime of the unpleasant consequences of this action against the Shaykh Qasim.   

Although Shaykh Qasim has been in detention for 4 months and the regime set several trial dates for him, it so far did not dare holding trial session for him, and has used any excuse to delay the trial dates. The

very latest postponed trial date was November 23. 

These delays express very well that the Al Khalifa regime is well aware of the popularity of Shaykh Qasim and the repercussions that his trial could bring about, including losing control over the protest movement.   

Actually, making the protests violent by no means is in favor of the regime and trial of the Shiite leader only fuels more anti-regime rallies and moves.   

For example, following Shaykh Qasim's arrest and revoking his citizenship, all of the protesting groups from Al-Wefaq movement to Coalition Youth of 14 February Revolution threatened the regime with keeping all the options on the table. 

Additionally, the elements of Axis of Resistance in the region including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraq’s Sadrist Movement, Yemen's Ansarullah and, most importantly, Iran have cautioned Al Khalifa regime against possible uncontrollable consequences of any act against the spiritual leader of Bahrain's uprising. Perhaps the strong statement of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, that followed the stripping Shaykh Isa Qasim of his citizenship was the most important threat against Al Khalifa. The statement read that any violent act against the top Shiite cleric will be an onset of armed resistance by the Bahraini revolutionaries.