1/17/2023 0 Comments Rulers online![]() The Gulf Arab sheiks and monarchs view Bahrain as a domino that cannot fall. Tehran's statements took on an even harder edge after Bahrain's monarchy declared military rule and was aided in March by a Gulf force dominated by Iran's regional rival, Saudi Arabia. Iran has relentlessly assailed Bahrain's rulers for crackdowns against the country's Shiite majority, which comprises 70 percent of the population but is denied key roles in government or security affairs. "So many of the Gulf's big issues are squeezed into this one tiny country," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. It serves as further recognition that Bahrain's crisis doubles as a window into the region's collective phobias - the mutual mistrust of Sunni Arab leaders and Shiite powerhouse Iran - as America effectively watches from the sidelines. ![]() But there is a distinct undercurrent in the island kingdom: pumping up its own rhetoric to match Iran's increasing barrage of criticism. Navy's 5th Fleet.īahrain's current spin - shifting from state media to the web - could appear as just more boosterism in a region where rulers are constantly bathed in state-sponsored praise. On the other: An expanding PR offensive to portray the Sunni monarchy as firmly in charge, and Bahrain as a firewall against Iranian influence in the nation that hosts the U.S. ![]() On one side is a grinding campaign to break the spirits of Shiite-led opponents whose pro-reform uprising was smothered by martial law. These are the parallel worlds of one of Washington's linchpin military allies in the Gulf. ![]()
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