In the rally that was held near the UN office in Tehran, the students chanted slogans in condemnation of the proposal and the Bahraini government’s wrong policies and expressed their support for the Bahraini people.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain weighed the issue of establishing a closer political union at a summit of Persian Gulf Arab leaders on May 14 in Riyadh organized to pool efforts to neutralize popular uprisings against despotic monarchist systems.
Bahraini Information Minister Samira Rajab told AFP on May 12, “The idea of a (Persian) Gulf union will be on the agenda of the summit in Riyadh.”
“This union could start with two or three” members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, she said, adding that the proposal for a Persian Gulf union put forward by Saudi King Abdullah was “backed by Bahrain.”
A number of non-Iranian students also held a demonstration in Felestin (Palestine) Square on Sunday to protest against the proposed union.
One hundred and ninety Iranian MPs issued a statement on May 14 strongly condemning the decision.
Iranian worshippers across the country held demonstrations after Friday prayers to protest the proposal.
According to the New York Times, tens of thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets on Friday to demonstrate against the proposal to unite Bahrain with neighboring Saudi Arabia.
“No to union. Bahrain is not for sale,” protesters chanted as they marched along a main road linking a number of Shia villages around the capital.
