Iran condemns raid on prominent Bahraini Shiite cleric’s house

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned Bahraini forces’ raid on the house of prominent Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Ahmed Qassem a day earlier.

“Desecration of religious symbols and insulting popular religious leaders and scholars signify the Bahraini government’s failed security and ethnic approaches to dealing with peaceful protests by the people of the country,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said.

Bahraini security forces raided the house of Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem on Monday. Witnesses say regime forces even took photos of the ID cards of everyone who was inside the house in Diraz, west of the capital Manama.

The Iranian spokeswoman called on Bahraini authorities to show respect for the highly respected position of Muslim scholars and religious leadership in the country and punish those who committed this “unacceptable measure” [raid on Sheikh Issa’s house].

The raid on the home of the spiritual leader of the opposition al-Wefaq group came just a few days after people voted in an alternative election held by the main opposition parties of Bahrain.

The opposition had boycotted the parliamentary elections which were held with a low turnout on the same day across the tiny kingdom.