The radicalizing influence of Iran’s Islamic revolution
The Islamic Revolution in Iran stirred up Islamist political activism across the Arab world. This occurred indirectly, as various Islamist groups were inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini’s example and sought to gain power in their own countries; but also directly as a result of the Islamic Republic’s explicit aim of spreading revolution.
Both factors were at play in Bahrain after 1979. Islamic radicals, inspired by events in Iran, pursued Islamic revolution in Bahrain. This radicalization occurred both within the Shirazi and Da’wah factions of Bahrain’s Shia political opposition.
As we will see, Iran’s “Office of the Liberation Movements” was a generously-funded entity with the specific objective of supporting revolutionaries in the Arabian Gulf and wider region.
This activity increased after Ayatollah Saddiq Rohani, who was close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, announced that Bahrain was the fourteenth province of Iran and demanded “Islamic government” for Bahrain.
The more radical Shirazis were far quicker than the more traditionalist Al-Da’wah clerics in grasping and exploiting the opportunities of the Islamic Revolution in Iran to further their aims. So in the first instance it was the Shirazis who benefitted from substantial quantities of Iranian funding in their aspirations to counter the Bahraini rulers.
This happened through the vehicle of the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, whose 1981 coup attempt we will study over the coming chapters.
Growing Shirazi radicalism
Following the disbandment of Bahrain’s Parliament in 1975 there was an increasing trend towards radicalism within the Shirazi camp.
Many of the key activists had travelled to Lebanon and received PLO military training in Palestinian refugee camps. This was facilitated by Hadi al-Mudarrisi and Ruhollah Khomeini. They often passed the Bahrainis off as Iranians from the Khuzestan region, to avoid alienating Gulf supporters of the Palestinian cause.
Within existing Shirazi organizations prior to 1979, preparations were already being made to use force to confront the Bahraini monarchy. “While Al-Da’wah was determined to continue opposing the Bahraini regime through political means, the Shiraziyyin were therefore prepared to confront it more brutally several years before the Iranian revolution” (L Louer).
Prominent ILFB activist, Mohammed al-Alawi, stated: “Before the revolution, the leadership of the Front was already formalized, but we were not aware of constituting a political organization, strictly speaking, and our objective was not clear.”
Following the 1979 Iranian revolution, Hadi al-Mudarrisi declared that he was the representative of Ayatollah Khomeini for Bahrain and staged a number of demonstrations, including the Khomeini-influenced “Qods Day” demonstration, during which Al-Mudarrisi declared his support for Ayatollah Khomeini and Khomeini’s principle of “welayat al-faqih”.
In the escalating tensions that followed the Islamic revolution Al-Mudarrisi was deported from Bahrain and the Shirazi Social Husseini Fund was closed down. However, on his arrival in Tehran Al-Mudarrisi was immediately put in charge of the Arabic section of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, from which he sought to incite revolt against the rulers of Bahrain. Al-Mudarrisi is also the founder of the English-language news network Ahlulbayt TV, which he co-founded with his son, Sayed Mahdi Al-Mudarrisi, in 2009.
Exporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution
By 1979 Iran’s revolutionary regime had already established very close relationships with Bahraini Shirazi activists, particularly through the “Pasderan” (Guardians of the Revolution) institution, whose cadres had trained alongside Bahraini Shirazis the PLO camps in Lebanon.
Iranian leadership figures like Mohammed Montazeri and Mehdi Hashemi were particularly active in supporting “liberation movements” across the Arab world.
In 1981, the Pasderan’s role of “exporting revolution” became formalized with the creation of the “Office of the Liberation Movements” in Tehran, headed by Montazeri and Hashemi. This office focused on supporting “liberation movements” in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan; with the creation of Hezbollah in Lebanon as its towering achievement.
Hadi al-Mudarrisi and the Bahraini Shirazis were seen as the “subcontractors” of this office, for the task of “liberating” Bahrain.
Iraqi Shirazis are often credited with triggering the Iran-Iraq war, by stirring up tensions between the two sides. For example, they established a radio station near the border with Iraq which attacked the Iraqi, Saudi and Bahraini leaderships and championed the cause of Islamic revolution.
It would not be long before stalemate in the Iran-Iraq conflict led Iran’s leaders to consider fomenting unrest and revolution in Bahrain and other Gulf states, as a means of breaking the deadlock and strengthening Iran’s regional position.
Origins of the Bahrain opposition: Other sections
A major divide within Shia Islam: Al-Da’wah and the Shirazis
Al-Da’wah and the Shirazis in Bahrain
The Da’wah current in Iraq
The Da’wah current in Bahrain
Why do Al-Da’wah & the Islamic Enlightenment society matter?
Origins of the Shirazi current in Bahrain
Consolidation and radicalization of the Shirazis
Differences between the Da’wah & Shirazi factions in Bahrain
Beginnings of labour activism and civil society movements
1953-56 unrest and the Higher Executive Committee
Emergence of left-wing, Marxist and Baathist parties
Whatever happened to Bahrain’s left-wing?
Who were the People’s Bloc?
Who were the Religious Bloc?
Religious Bloc versus the People’s Bloc in the National Assembly
Eclipse of the left
Politicization of Bahraini Shia
The influence of political Islam movements elsewhere
The influence of Ayatollah Khomeini
Politicization of religious festivals
The radicalizing influence of Iran’s Islamic revolution
Growing Shirazi radicalism
Exporting Iran’s Islamic Revolution
Al-Da’wah contacts with Iran’s revolutionary leadership
Changing Iranian allegiances
Saudi oppositionist movements
Announcing the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
Islamic Front aims and ideology
1981 coup attempt by Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain after the failed coup
The Shirazi movement loses favour in Iran
Declining influence: The Islamic front in the 1990s
Iranian support for Bahrain’s Al-Da’wah movement
Moving into the Iranian ideological orbit
What is Welayat Al-Faqih?
Breaking with Shia quietism
Ayatollah Isa Qassim and Welayat Al-Faqih
A new generation of Shia clerics
Hezbollah in Bahrain
Major references
(Additional specific references can be found as hyperlinks within the text)
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About Muharraq pdf: http://eprints.port.ac.uk/7687/4/Ch-2_AboutMuharraq.pdf
Bahrain Wikileaks:
Reform in Bahrain: Mansour al-Jamri (re. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja)
Wafaa: New Shia rejectionist movement
Bahrain’s Shia opposition: Managing sectarian pressures
Some potential new leaders in Al-Wefaq
Bahrain al-Wefaq hails Iran Supreme Leader’s support