Bahrain’s government is distributing files to journalists at airport terminals, claiming Iran is linked with the crisis in the country, says a Bahraini activist.
“The journalists coming to Bahrain in the past few days have been given files at the airport, telling them that what is going on in Bahrain is linked to the Iranian government,” said Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, in a Press TV interview.
Rajab added that the government tries to convince journalists that “there is nothing about [protesters’] demands; nothing about human rights; but just one thing: the Iranian government tries to make problems in Bahrain by supporting some people who work for that government.”
“None of those journalists coming to Bahrain believe the government’s claim that Iran is linked to the protest. It is very clear that people have peaceful and legitimate demands.”
“The protests have been headed by Shias and Sunnis. The government tries to link the protest to Iran; we say no, it is an internal issue.”
Commenting on the Bahraini government’s “violent way” of dealing with the “internal issue,” Rajab concluded that “the government tries to mislead the public opinion, but it is not working and functioning as they want.”
The popular anti-government movement, which was triggered in mid-February, has left at least 26 people killed and some 1,000 others wounded.
