What are Iran’s objectives in the Middle East?

In the news the other day remarks made by Bahrain Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed al-Khalife caught my attention. Al-Khalife emphasized his country denounces any and all meddling by Iran on his turf. He accused Tehran of aggressive positions, unbounded propaganda attacks, smuggling of explosives-arms-ammo to Bahrain and launching camps in Iran to train terrorists.

Of course Iran’s meddling in Bahrain has not stopped in the diplomatic and propaganda arena. In fact, it has gone much further and reached the point of backing fundamentalists with money, weapons and training aimed at specifically targeting Bahrain’s security.

Now, the question is why is Iran going to such limits to meddle in Middle Eastern countries, at the heavy price of all the condemnations in this regard? 36 years after Khomeini hijacked the 1979 revolution in Iran, not only the Iranian nation but all people across the region have suffered from the horrific conspiracies plotted by the mullahs sitting in Tehran. One day in Lebanon with massive explosions, the next in Syria with horrific barrel bombs, then in Iraq with deadly sectarian killings and more recently in Yemen and Bahrain… is there a light at the end of this dark tunnel?

From 1979 onward after Khomeini sat on the throne, one of the pillars of the mullahs’ rule has been exporting ‘revolution’ (read terrorism and fundamentalism) to its neighbour in the region. The main objective has been to expand their influence in the Persian Gulf through various groups that pursue Iran’s plans and agendas. In those early days politicians in Iran literally considered Bahrain as one of their provinces!

Therefore, Iran’s efforts to create instability in Bahrain is nothing new and the mullahs’ supreme leader Ali Khamenei had many times prior to 1988 (when he took over the reign after Khomeini died) lashed out at Bahrain. However, Khamenei’s recent remarks regarding Bahrain have had a significant change in comparison to the past.

The noteworthy development we have witnessed these days was the Iranian regime’s major defeat in being forced to give in to the nuclear agreement it was fleeing from for the past 12 years, and of course, the major setbacks its proxy forces have suffered in Syria and Yemen. These chain reaction defeats have forced Tehran to resort to new measures in countries such as Bahrain through pro-Iran groups. In such actions the Persian Gulf is now faced with a new crisis and allowing Iran to resurface from the heavy burden of all the recent attacks.

The objective Tehran is seeking in regime change in Bahrain and installing an Shiite government was revealed back in the 1980s and 1990s through confessions made by those trained in Iran for this very purpose. In 2006 Manama unveiled a secret ‘Bahrain Hezbollah’ group working in coordination with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force.

In 2011 the Iranian regime campaigned all its elements in Bahrain to create a major commotion and disturbance, which received a very strong and timely response from regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, when all the ringleaders of this to-be coup were rounded up andarrested.

In March 2015 a court in Bahrain prosecuted a 31-man group for attempting to murder police officers, ultimately sentencing them to life in jail. These individuals were trained in Iran and dispatched to carry out terrorist operations, yet fortunately arrested before they could cause any havoc.

On 25 July 2015 the Bahrain Interior Ministry declared authorities in this country neutralized an attempt to smuggle very dangerous explosives, automatic weapons and ammunition (45 kilograms of highly explosive C4 charges) through the sea in their country, arresting five individuals in the process. One of these individuals was trained in Iran. Those arrested admitted this consignment was received from Iranians outside of Bahrain waters. The Bahrain Interior Ministry stipulated one of these individuals was trained in Iran back in 2013.

Following the recent Vienna nuclear agreement and Iran’s major losses in Syria and Yemen, Tehran is seeking to prevent these defeats from flooding into its own ranks and files. Therefore, as always Iran sees the solution in increasing export of terror and extremism, and to this end it has focused all its efforts to disrupt stability in Bahrain yet again.

It has been proven once again that as long as this regime is in power in Iran the nations of the region will face a new crisis every day. Now, we must ask Mr. Obama that assuming you did stop Iran’s time bomb in the nuclear pact (of course I personally don’t agree with such a thesis because Tehran is much more devious than anyone could imagine), what will you do with the ‘nuclear bombs’ of commotion, murder and other crimes carried out by the Iranian regime in countries of the region? Trust me; Iran’s meddling in the region is one hundred times more dangerous than Iran possessing a nuclear weapon? (Just take a look at the bloody wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the unrest in Bahrain. I rest my case.)