Hawzah News Agency- some media circles have been discussing restoring political relations between Iran and Bahrain for some time now. In the meantime, in a meeting with Russian and Chinese officials, the King of Bahrain asked for mediation to establish relations with Iran. According to the experts and political activists of Bahrain, the Al Khalifa regime must take effective steps to communicate with Iran.

In this regard, the international correspondent of Hawzah News spoke with Sheikh Abdullah Al-Saleh, the deputy of Bahrain Islamic Action Society.

The text of the interview is as follows:

Hawzah: What is your opinion about the statements of the King of Bahrain in the meeting with President Putin and the President of China regarding the normalization of relations with Iran?

These statements show the isolation and distance of the king of Bahrain from the reality of the region, since the Islamic Republic, in the present government, whose head was martyred Ayatollah Raisi, reformed relations with neighboring countries, especially in the Persian Gulf, as one of its priorities. Iran started establishing relations with all the neighboring countries.

But Al-Khalifa, who had a state of arrogance, pride, and procrastination, did not care about this constructive move, rather when they realized that all the countries of the Persian Gulf improved their relations with the Islamic Republic to a certain extent, they noticed that they are isolated and backward as always.

Therefore, they tried to mediate through the neighboring country of Oman, but there were also a series of internal requirements that they did not want to adhere to, so they decided to ask Russian President Putin to intervene. Bahraini officials also reiterated the request for mediation to restore relations with Iran in the meeting with the President of China.

Although Al-Khalifa has not yet provided the right ground for restoring relations, it is well aware that the problem is not the Islamic Republic of Iran and that these weak and irregular relations are not related to Iran, but the problem is caused by the Al-Khalifa regime.

It is Al-Khalifa who conspired against the Islamic Republic with the complicity of the Americans, Zionists, and the British and made brutal accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran and introduced Iran as the cause of Bahrain's problems and crises.

This is a flight forward and away from reality, and maybe this issue plans to put the Islamic Republic in trouble and make it appear as if the reason for postponing the restoration of relations is Iran, whereas they did not fulfill their duties towards the people of Bahrain.

Hawzah: During the 13 years that have passed since the revolution of the people of Bahrain, the Al-Khalifa regime has always accused Iran of interfering in Bahrain. Does the Al-Khalifa regime still believe that Iran is responsible for the crisis in Bahrain?

This is the main problem. They didn't even apologize for their extravagant statements against the Islamic Republic, they accused the Islamic Republic of intervention, and this is while the report of Basiouni (the person in charge of the fact-finding commission on human rights violations in Bahrain by the Al-Khalifa regime) confirmed in November 2011 that there is no evidence of Islamic Republic involvement in Bahrain. The real intervention was carried out by Saudi Arabia and the UAE and their forces are still present in Bahrain.

There is no excuse for not establishing normal relations between Al-Khalifa and the Islamic Republic, especially since Iran has always had initiatives in this regard and has always extended its hand to others, so the King of Bahrain has no justification for not establishing relations with Iran.

Hawzah: In your opinion, what steps do you think the Al-Khalifa regime needs to take to establish relations with Iran inside and outside of Bahrain?

There may be external pressures from other countries such as Saudi Arabia to at least reduce the atmosphere of tension to stabilize the region and increase the closeness of relations, but the main problem in Bahrain is the diversion of the government with the people of Bahrain, and the Islamic Republic is ready to support it to the best of its ability.

If the King of Bahrain decides to restore normal relations with the Islamic Republic, Iran will welcome this, but many obstacles remain, including the internal problems of the King with the people of Bahrain, including the hostile attitude of the King of Bahrain against the Islamic Republic.

Also, the alliance with the enemies of the Islamic Republic, the Americans, the Zionists, and the British, prevented the rapid restoration of relations, which means that the problem lies within the Kingdom of Bahrain, not the Islamic Republic. In my opinion, the first steps towards improving the relationship should start from inside Bahrain, especially with the immediate release of the rest of the political prisoners, which the King of Bahrain has so far refused to do.

Majid Poustchian