Iran has angrily accused Bahrain of stirring instability after Donald Trump announced Manama and Israel were establishing ties in a landmark deal that reinforces America’s push to redraw Middle East conflicts.
Calling it a “truly historic day”, the US President said on Saturday AEST that Israel and Bahrain were establishing full diplomatic and commercial relations. “They will exchange embassies and ambassadors, begin direct flights between their countries and launch co-operation initiatives across a broad range of sectors, including health, business, technology, education, security and agriculture,” he said.
Bahrain said in a joint statement it had agreed to formalise the deal with Israel at a ceremony on Wednesday AEST in the White House, where the United Arab Emirates will also sign off on its own thaw with Israel announced last month.
Shia Iran, which has tense relations with Bahrain and is a sworn enemy of Washington, slammed its Gulf neighbour.
“The rulers of Bahrain will from now on be partners to the crimes of the Zionist regime as a constant threat to the security of the region and the world of Islam,” it said on Sunday.
Bahrainis opposed to the agreement vented their frustration on social media, using the hashtags “Bahrainis against normalisation” and “normalisation is betrayal”.
Read the article by Amir Havasi and Sebastian Smith in The Australian.