BAHRAIN PROTESTS IRANIAN INTERFERENCE IN INTERNAL

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000270

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM BA IR
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN PROTESTS IRANIAN INTERFERENCE IN INTERNAL
AFFAIRS

Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe. Reason: 1.4 (b) (d)


1. (S) Summary. MFA MinState Abdel Ghaffar delivered a
sharp message to the Ambassador February 27 outlining his
government's deep concern about Iranian interference in
Bahrain's internal affairs, which he said reached a zenith
during recent Ashura celebrations. The MFA summoned the
Iranian Ambassador the previous day to protest Iranian
activities. Abdel Ghaffar also had harsh words for Shia
opposition leader Ali Salman and leading Shia cleric Isa
Qassim, calling the latter an agent of Iran. He also
expressed concerns about presumed new Iraqi Prime Minister
Ja'fari, saying he did not believe him when he said he wanted
an inclusive government in Iraq. He worried that Shia
governments in Iraq and Iran could be a dangerous development
for Bahrain. While Bahrain has welcomed and supported the
positive impact of a democratic, post-Saddam Iraq, this
demarche is a reminder that Bahrain's leadership, already
wary of Iran, is apprehensive about the possible impact that
Shia success in Iraq might have in Bahrain as it loosens
controls and moves towards democracy. End summary.


2. (S) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed
Abdel Ghaffar summoned the Ambassador February 27 to express
his government's deep concern about growing Iranian
interference in Bahrain's internal affairs. He accused Iran
of using Bahrain's openness and democracy to penetrate into
Shia society. He said the Iranians were operating smartly,
for the most part not going through their Embassy in Bahrain.
The zenith of these activities, he said, came during Ashura.
While many Shia celebrated Ashura as a religious event,
there are others who politicized the celebrations for their
own gain (he cited as examples Shia opposition leader Ali
Salman and leading Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim). During
Ashura, pictures of Khomeini and Khamenei proliferated in
Shia villages (more and larger than usual, he said). Even
more worrisome, camps were set up to offer ideological
training to youth. Calling these camps "very dangerous," he
said that Bahraini authorities found in the camps Hizbollah
logos as well as numerous American and Israeli flags drawn on
the ground for people to stomp on.


3. (S) Abdel Ghaffar said that Foreign Minister Shaikh
Mohammed had called in the Iranian Ambassador the previous
day to "give him a strong message" and protest Iranian
support for these activities. The Iranian Ambassador denied
any Iranian involvement, Abdel Ghaffar stated, "but we know
they are behind this." The Ambassador noted that there have
been reports that the King might be traveling to Iran at some
point. Abdel Ghaffar said that any thought of the King
traveling to Iran is now off.


4. (S) Amplifying his accusations against Al-Wifaq (major
Shia opposition society) leader Ali Salman and Shia cleric
Sheikh Isa Qassim, Abdel Ghaffar stated that Al-Wifaq is
affiliated with the Ulama conference under the presidency of
Sheikh Isa Qassim and that Isa Qassim is an agent of Iran who
believes that Iran should rule everywhere in the region. "He
is a very dangerous man," he stated.


5. (C) Abdel Ghaffar stated that the leadership is
considering what to do next. "We hate to take decisions to
curb freedom of speech, and we will not do this. But we have
to figure out how to deal with the radical Shia. He said he
personally did not think that a lot of space should be given
to religious groups in politics. "One of the problems with
democracy in our region," he stated, "is that when you give
people more freedom, bad groups can exploit this freedom for
their own sectarian purposes." He cited the Arab Thought
Forum, currently taking place in Bahrain under the
chairmanship of Jordan's Prince Hassan, as an attempt to
develop a counteracting voice of moderation in Islam. In his
new concurrent position as Minister of Information, he hoped
to similarly promote moderation through Bahrain's broadcast
media.


6. (C) Although Bahrain's leadership has been supportive of
developments in Iraq, Abdel Ghaffar raised concerns about the
direction a Shia government there might take once it controls
the government. He was particularly apprehensive about
Ibrahim Al-Ja'fari if he became the new Prime Minister,
noting that Da'wa was a radical Shia movement that has a
message for the whole region. "I don't believe him for a
second when he says everyone should participate," he said.
"We have an expression in Arabic: I tell you what you want to
hear, and I hide in my heart what I plan to do." He
maintained the hope that somehow Allawi could become Prime
Minister. The Ambassador noted that Bahrain's leadership had
been positively impressed with the moderate message that
Abdel-Aziz Al-Hakim had brought to Bahrain several weeks ago,
and wondered what had changed (given the primary role that
Al-Hakim appeared to be continuing to play). Without
directly answering, Abdel Ghaffar stated that he was
concerned that Shia governments in Iraq and Iran could be a
dangerous development for Bahrain.


7. (S) Comment: This unexpectedly strong demarche (which
most certainly was not an Abdel Ghaffar message but reflected
concerns of his superiors) on worries about the potential
Shia threat in the region underscores the cross-cutting
reactions in Bahrain, a Shia-majority country run by a Sunni
royal family, as it faces the new reality in Iraq. On the
one hand, the leadership welcomes and supports the positive
impact a democratic, post-Saddam Iraq will bring to the
region and Bahrain. There are already signs that the
successful election in Iraq is helping push Shias who
boycotted the last election into giving serious consideration
to voting in the 2006 elections, a positive development for
the government. And a stable, growing Iraq can only be good
for a small country like Bahrain that will depend on the
regional market for its long-term economic prospects. On the
other hand, to varying degrees Sunnis in Bahrain, including
in the royal family, remain extremely wary of Iran and wonder
what impact the success of Shias in Iraq will have in Bahrain
at a time when it is loosening controls and moving towards
full democracy.


8. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
MONROE