Bahrain has ordered the expulsion of an Iranian diplomat for alleged links to a spy ring in fellow Gulf Arab state Kuwait, state media said, in a further deterioration of relations with Tehran. The kingdom also sought criminal charges against 30 health ministry staff, extending a crackdown against public employees suspected of participating in pro-democracy protests that Bahrain crushed last month with outside military help.
Relations between Shia Iran and Gulf Arab states have nose-dived since Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent troops into the island state, where a Sunni-led monarchy rules over a Shia majority, to end weeks of pro-democracy protests. Bahrain accused the Islamic Republic of fomenting Shia unrest. A statement on the Bahrain News Agency late on Monday said the foreign ministry had summoned Iranian charge d'affaires Mehdi Islami to inform him that diplomat Hojjatullah Rahmani had 72 hours to leave "based on his link to the spy cell in Kuwait". Kuwait expelled three Iranian diplomats earlier this month over accusations of involvement in an alleged spy ring, prompting Tehran to order three Kuwaiti diplomats to leave Iran.
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