Iran and Bahrain agree to resume diplomatic relations after eight years of tensions

June 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Iran’s acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, and his Bahraini counterpart, Abdulatif bin Rashid al Zayani, agreed this Sunday to resume their diplomatic relations, which were severed in 2016 after the Bahraini authorities decided to follow in the footsteps of Arabia. Saudi following an assault on its Embassy in Tehran during a protest over the execution of a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric.

“(Bagheri and Al Zayani) held a bilateral meeting today (…) in which both parties have agreed to create the necessary mechanisms to begin talks between the two countries in order to study how to resume political relations” , reads a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The two diplomatic heads met in Tehran on the occasion of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Forum, highlighting the “historic fraternal relations” between both countries, in addition to the “religious ties, neighborhood, common history and mutual interests.”

In May, King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa of Bahrain already opened the doors to improving diplomatic relations with Iran, considering that there was “no reason to delay the resumption” of them.

The Bahraini authorities have on numerous occasions accused Iran of supporting the protests that broke out in 2011 in the wake of the ‘Arab Spring’, while Tehran denies this and demands that Manama respect the rights of its population, mainly Shiites.

This announcement is part of the normalization of relations between the Islamic Republic and the Arab countries that broke off relations with Tehran after Saudi Arabia did the same in January 2016. The United Arab Emirates sent back its ambassador to Iran in September 2022, while Riyadh resumed relations after a meeting held in Beijing in 2023, signifying a reduction in its disputes in the region, especially in the conflict in Yemen.

It should be noted that Bahrain is one of the United States’ main partners in the region. In fact, it is one of the countries, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Morocco, that have signed the ‘Abraham Accords’, promoted in 2020 by former US president Donald Trump and which involve the establishment of relations with Israel. Thus, they joined Egypt, which signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979, and Jordan, which did the same in 1994.