A Bahraini court yesterday sentenced six people to 15 years in jail each for plotting with Iran to stage attacks on targets including the Saudi Embassy and the Interior Ministry, the official BNA news agency and a lawyer said.
BNA said three of those convicted were in contact with Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Basij militia “to target sensitive and vital infrastructure facilities” in Bahrain, according to investigations by the public prosecution.
Bahrain said in November it had arrested the men and broken up a cell planning to target its Interior Ministry, the Saudi Embassy in Manama and a causeway linking the island state to Saudi Arabia. Four men were handed over by Qatar. Iran denied it had any link to the plot.
Three of the men were sentenced in absentia, including Ali Mushaima, the son of jailed dissident leader Hassan Mushaima, said Mohsen Al-Alawi, lawyer for two other men who were found not guilty. The court’s verdict can be appealed, said Alawi.
Bahrain has been in turmoil since protests erupted last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.
The GCC has accused Iran of being behind Bahrain’s unrest.
6 Iran-backed terror plotters handed 15 years in Bahrain
