Bahrain Halts All Iran Flights: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Bahrain has halted all flights to and from Iran a day after it joined Saudi Arabia in severing diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic, Media reports said on Tuesday.
Bahrain's Transport Ministry announced the move Tuesday in a statement carried by the official Bahrain News Agency.
Bahrain is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which severed diplomatic ties and also halted all flights to and from Iran after Iranian protesters attacked Riyadh's diplomatic missions, violence stemming from Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent opposition Shiite cleric Sheikh Nime Baqir al-Nimr.
The civil aviation department of Bahrain's Transport Ministry meantime said it would take steps to minimize any inconvenience for travelers who have prior reservations.
The Saudi government on Sunday announced that Riyadh is severing its diplomatic relations with Iran.
Speaking on Iranian state television, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in Tehran's first response that by cutting diplomatic ties, Riyadh could not cover up "its major mistake of executing Sheikh Nimr".
Saudi Arabia’s execution of 47 prisoners, including Sheikh Nimr, on Saturday drew global condemnation.
The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. The bodies were then hanged from gibbets in the most severe form of punishment available in the kingdom's law.
Sheikh Nimr had been detained in July 2012 on charges of delivering anti-regime speeches and defending political prisoners.
