Revocation of Sheikh Qassim’s Nationality Sign of Bahraini Regime’s Weakness: Cleric
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian cleric slammed the Manama regime for revoking the citizenship of Bahrain’s most prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, saying that the move was a sign of the weakness of the Al Khalifa rulers.
“The move (to strip Sheikh Qassim of his citizenship) is indicative of the weakness of the Bahraini regime,” Mahmoud Mohammadi Araqi, a newly-elected member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, told the Tasnim News Agency.
The cleric emphasized that only governments incapable of running their country resort to such measures as revocation of dissidents’ nationalities.
The measure is also in violation of human rights and all international regulations, he said, adding that one who is born in a country cannot be stripped of his nationality.
Bahrain announced on June 20 that the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Amnesty International and many other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime for the rampant human rights abuses against opposition groups and anti-regime protesters.
