One of Iran’s top military commanders on Sunday warned Saudi Arabia that its decision to deploy forces in Bahrain to quell protests by Shiites would spark unrest at home. Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi, head of Iran’s joint chiefs of staff, said, according to the Mehr news agency: “Unfair and unIslamic moves will hurt the honor of Muslims in Saudi Arabia, and it will threaten the security of Saudi Arabia.”
Firouzabadi also slammed Washington, claiming it was behind Riyadh’s move into Bahrain so that it could preserve an American naval base there. “Washington ordered Saudi Arabia as its mercenary to thwart the Bahrainis’ popular revolution so that the U.S. can maintain its base,” Firouzabadi was reported as saying.
Firouzabadi criticized Arab states on Saturday, according to the official IRNA news agency. “The Arab dictatorial regimes in the Persian Gulf are unable to contain the popular uprisings,” he was reported as saying. “The dictators should relinquish power, end their savage crimes and let the people determine their own future instead of ... opening an unworkable front against Iran.”
