Bahrain says it foiled planned attack, confiscated Iranian weapons and explosives

Bahrain, host to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and other international naval operations, has often accused Shi'ite Muslim Iran of seeking to subvert the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed participate in the signing of the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Middle Eas (photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed participate in the signing of the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Middle Eas
(photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)

Bahrain security forces arrested a number of suspected militants ahead of a planned attack and confiscated weapons and explosives that had come from Iran, the interior ministry said on its official Twitter on Monday.

The ministry did not say how many people were arrested or specify their nationalities. It described them as "linked with terrorist groups in Iran" and said they were "plotting terrorist operations against security and civil peace".

Bahrain, host to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and other international naval operations, has often accused Shi'ite Muslim Iran of seeking to subvert the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which has a Shi'ite majority. Iran has denied such charges.

The island state was the only Gulf Arab state to witness a sizeable pro-democracy uprising in the 2011 "Arab Spring", from a largely Shi'ite opposition movement, which it quashed with help from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

 Bahraini activists on a tour of Israel.  (credit: MICHAEL STARR)
Bahraini activists on a tour of Israel. (credit: MICHAEL STARR)

Last year, Bahrain said it had foiled a "terrorist attack" backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.