Iran will not return its ambassador to Bahrain until crackdown ends

The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Saturday that it will not reciprocate Bahrain's decision to reinstate its ambassador. In remarks published Thursday on the official website of the Arabic-speaking Iranian Al-Alam news channel, the ministry said that Iran will not return its ambassador to Manama “as long as the regime's repression of the Bahraini people continues”.    

The website quoted the Iranian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hussein Amir Abdul Lahyan as saying “Tehran will not take a decision to return its ambassador to Manama in light of the ongoing use of violence and toxic gases by the Bahraini government against peaceful protestors”.       

Abdul Lahyan pointed out that the return of the Bahraini ambassador to Tehran was a decision of the Bahraini government.    

Bahrain announced last Sunday that it had returned its ambassador to Iran, after an absence of nearly 18 months amid a deep rift between the two governments over Shiite-led pro-democracy protests that erupted in the Sunni-ruled kingdom in February last year.     

Manama recalled its ambassador from Tehran on March 15, 2011 in protest at what it said was Shiite Iran's "blatant interference" in its internal affairs.       

 Tehran retaliated by recalling its envoy from Manama.