Bahrain said on Wednesday it had caught an Iranian-linked cell plotting attacks on its territory, days after it followed its close ally Saudi Arabia in cutting ties with Iran’s regime, Reuters reported.
“A secret terrorist plot aided by the so-called Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Hezbollah terrorist organization was foiled,” the Gulf island kingdom’s state news agency BNA reported.
“It targeted the security of the kingdom of Bahrain by (plotting to) carry out a series of dangerous bombings,” it added.
BNA said a main suspect, Ali Ahmed Fakhrawi, had traveled to Lebanon and personally met the head of the Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah, who gave him $20,000 to aid the cell.
Fakhrawi and his twin brother were linked to the militant activities of eight other suspects named by BNA, some of whom were arrested as early as 2013 and two of whom were designated as fugitives, one in Iran.
In November, Bahrain said it had arrested 47 members of a group believed to have links to “terrorist elements in Iran” who it said were planning to carry out attacks in the coming days.
Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Iran in October after it said security forces discovered a bomb-making factory and arrested a number of suspects linked to the Revolutionary Guard.