Islam Times - Iran not meddling in regional states: deputy FM

Islam Times - A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official has dismissed claims that Iran is meddling in the internal affairs of regional countries.

“Iran’s strategy toward all regional countries is based on friendship, good neighborliness, and mutual respect,” IRNA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying on Tuesday.

He went on to say that the false allegations about the Islamic Republic are being made by those countries that clearly support the war in Syria or whose military forces are still present on the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain.

The Iranian official denounced the Bahraini government’s ongoing crackdown on anti-regime protesters as a “blatant violation of human rights” and said the current situation in the country “threatens regional security."

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.

According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested in the crackdown.

Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have "evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police" in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

The protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.