Iran calls on Bahrain to respond to people’s demands

Mehr News - Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast has urged the Bahraini government to avoid using violence and repressive measures against protesters and respond to people’s legitimate demands.

Mehmanparast made the remarks in a statement published on Saturday in reference to a rights inquiry led by international rights lawyer Cherif Bassiouni that found evidence of systematic abuse during the crushing of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain this year.

According to Reuters, Bassiouni’s hard-hitting report, which was read out in front of Bahraini King Hamad and senior figures from the ruling Al Khalifa family on November 23, said nearly 3,000 people were arrested and 4,000 lost their jobs after the Bahraini government invited in Saudi and UAE troops and introduced martial law to end the protests.

With its talk of confessions extracted under torture, the report also left question marks over the verdicts handed down by military courts, including against 21 politicians, rights activists and a blogger accused of leading the uprising.

Mehmanparast said that the Bassiouni’s report reveals the harsh treatment of protesters and massive human rights violations in Bahrain and expressed hope that the leaders of the kingdom would avoid resorting to violence and give a positive response to people’s legitimate demands through adopting appropriate measures and democratic approaches.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran disapproves of using violence to deal with peaceful popular movements and believes the right approach to people’s demands is that regional rulers give a proper response to them,” he said.