Bahrain arrests 50 Shiite clerics, strips 69 of citizenship

Bahraini officials describe the crackdown as existential, saying Iran seeks to undermine and ultimately topple the only Arab state of the Persian Gulf ruled by a Sunni Muslim family but populated mostly by Shiites. Lt. Gen. Tariq Al Hassan, head of the Public Security agency, said authorities were confronting an ideology that demands obedience to Iran's leadership above Bahrain's sovereign authority. He said the war had exposed what he called indoctrination by Iran-linked ideology.

Between May and June, authorities arrested more than 50 clerics and religious orators, accusing them of trying to incite rebellion and overthrow the ruling order with help from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and of promoting followers' subordination to Iran's supreme leader. Relatives and lawyers say the authorities are criminalizing belief and deny the charges. Around a dozen people have been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for allegedly expressing support for attacks. Twenty rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, alleged torture, coerced confessions and other due-process violations.