DUBAI—Bahraini authorities arrested 47 suspects alleged to be part of a terrorist network plotting attacks in the country, state media said Wednesday.
A bomb-making facility and explosives lab were discovered in the raid, the official Bahrain News Agency said, and security officials seized weapons and materials likely meant to construct car bombs.
Tensions have simmered for years in the tiny Persian Gulf nation between its Sunni Muslim rulers and dissidents from its majority Shiite Muslim population, whom Bahraini authorities say receive weapons and training from Shiite Iran.
Violence directed at Bahraini security forces, including targeted bombings, has become a regular occurrence.
Iran supports increased rights for Bahrain’s Shiite population but Iranian officials have denied interfering in Bahraini affairs or shipping weapons and explosives to the country.
Tariq Al Hasan, Bahrain’s Chief of Public Security, said Saturday that Iran was attempting to sow discord in Bahrain. The country’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, also decried Iran’s alleged meddling and implied the country posed a terrorist threat to the region.
Wednesday’s announcement follows a string of raids on alleged Iranian interests in Bahrain.
In July two suspects were arrested after they allegedly tried to smuggle in explosivesand weapons from Iran. One was accused of receiving training from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Authorities arrested five more people in August on suspicion of orchestrating a bombing the previous month that killed two Bahraini policemen. Those suspects were accused of having links to Iran.
Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Tehran in early October and expelled Iran’s chargé d’affaires from its capital, Manama, after uncovering a further cache of weapons and explosives it linked to Iran.
