Iran concerned over Bahrain’s use of fatal teargas: Official

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs has expressed concern over the use of ‘Western-supplied deadly teargas’ in the crackdown on anti-government protesters in Bahrain.

Some Western countries have supplied the Bahraini government with lethal chemical gases and scores of Bahrainis have been killed or wounded by these chemicals, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tuesday.
Referring to ‘the escalation of the critical’ situation in Bahrain, the Iranian official hit out at the Bahraini government for its failure to heed the people’s legal demands and its blatant and systematic violation of human rights in the Persian Gulf country.

He also denounced the continuing presence of Al Saud forces in Bahrain and said diplomacy is the only way to resolve Bahrain’s issue.

Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, demanding political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on peaceful protests.

Scores of people have been killed and many others have been injured in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain.

Bahrainis hold King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa responsible for the death and arrest of protesters.