1981 Bahraini coup d'état attempt
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After Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran in 1979, Tehran made clear its intention to spread its Islamic Revolution throughout the Middle East[1] [1].
One of the most dramatic manifestations of this strategy was the alleged failed coup d’etat by militants in Bahrain in 1981. The Bahraini government alleged they were operating under the auspices of the alleged Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain[2], an alleged Islamist organisation with alleged ties to Iran, the alleged was for a small force of Bahraini militants augmented by Iranian intelligence officers to assassinate the emirate’s leadership in order to prompt a general uprising of Bahraini Shia as a prelude to the installation of a theocratic government. An Iranian Arabic-speaking ayatollah called Hadi Al Modarisi allegedly was to have been put in power as Supreme Leader of a government of clerics or a theocracy.
The alleged coup d'état attempt was allegdly foiled after an alleged tip off from another emirate when their security services allegdly became suspicious of a large party of young men allegedly transiting from Iran to Bahrain. The alleged coup plotters were quickly arrested and large arms caches as well as communications equipment and imitation military uniforms were found in sites around the island.[citation needed]Details were uncovered of the plans to assassinate leading members of the royal family and cabinet ministers, while other units were to take over vital infrastructure facilities such as Bahrain International Airport.[citation needed] The attempted coup led to a steep downturn in relations between the states of the newly formed Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran. It was also blamed for increasing fissures in Persian Gulf Arab societies between Sunnis and Shias.[citation needed]
Unlike other Middle Eastern countries where those involved in failed coups have usually been executed, the 73 people arrested were sentenced from between seven years to life imprisonment. They were released in 2001 when all political prisoners were amnestied by King Hamad as part of political reforms. Many of the alleged coup plotters are now active politically in the opposition Islamic Action Society.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- Bahrain
- Islamic Action Society
- Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
- Politics of Bahrain
- Iran-Arab Relations (Bahrain)
[edit] References and notes
- ^ ...bring about similar revolutions in the neighboring Muslim states... Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
- ^ Persian Gulf States Table of Contents U.S. Library of Congress
