Bahrain Arrests 41 People Linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard

The Government of Bahrain arrested 41 citizens on May 9, 2026, for alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the ideology of Wilayat al-Faqih. The Ministry of Interior stated it dismantled a network involved in espionage and financing terrorism, which included approximately 30 Shia religious leaders and seminary teachers. Authorities claim the group, comprising members of the dissolved Islamic Scholars Council, received military training to undermine national security and identified 11 individuals in Iran acting as links to the IRGC.

Regional governments, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt, expressed solidarity with Bahrain. UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah emphasized that Bahrain's stability is integral to the broader security of the Gulf region.

The crackdown follows a period of heightened regional tensions beginning February 28 and coincides with the revocation of citizenship for 69 people accused of sympathizing with Iran. While the government maintains the arrests are based on prosecutor investigations, human rights organizations, including the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, characterized the citizenship revocations as a blatant abuse of power and described the arrests as an unprecedented crackdown on Shia religious figures and dissenters.