1981 Bahraini coup d'état attempt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is part of the series on: History of Bahrain
Ancient Bahrain
Dilmun
Tylos and Mishmahig
Awal

Historical region
Islam in Bahrain
Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami



Qarmatians







Portuguese occupation
Muqrin ibn Zamil
Antonio Correia



Safavid hegemony (1602-1717)

1717 Oman invasion of Bahrain
Al Khalifa and the British Protectorate
1783 Al Khalifa invasion of Bahrain
Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship (1861)
First Oil Well (1932)

20th Century Bahrain
March 1965 Intifada
1981 coup d'état attempt
Uprising 1994-2000

2000s in Bahrain
Forum for the Future
Topical
Military history of Bahrain
Timeline of Bahrain history

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

After Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran in 1979, Tehran made clear its intention to spread its Islamic Revolution throughout the Middle East^[1] [1]. Arab states on the Persian Gulf with their large Shia populations were seen as primary targets and the Iranian government immediately set about supporting Persian Gulf Islamist organisations with money, arms, logistics and training in urban warfare.

One of the most dramatic manifestations of this strategy was the failed coup d’etat by militants in Bahrain in 1981. Operating under the auspices of the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain^[2], an Islamist organisation with ties to Iran, the plan was for a small force of Bahraini militants augmented by Iranian intelligence officers to assassinate the emirate’s leadership in order to prompt a general uprising of Bahraini Shia as a prelude to the installation of a theocratic government. An Iranian based Iraqi cleric, Hojjat ol-Eslam Hadi al-Modarresi, was to have been put in power as Supreme Leader of a government of clerics or a theocracy.

The coup d'état attempt was foiled after a tip off from another emirate when their security services became suspicious of a large party of young men transiting from Iran to Bahrain. The coup plotters were quickly arrested and large arms caches as well as communications equipment and imitation military uniforms were found in sites around the island. Details were uncovered of the plans to assassinate leading members of the royal family and cabinet ministers, while other units were to take over vital infrastructure facilities such as Bahrain International Airport.

The attempted coup led to a steep downturn in relations between the states of the newly formed Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran. It was also blamed for increasing fissures in Persian Gulf Arab societies between Sunnis and Shias.

Unlike other Middle Eastern countries where those involved in failed coups have usually been executed, the 73 people arrested were sentenced from between seven years to life imprisonment. They were released in 2001 when all political prisoners were amnestied by King Hamad as part of political reforms. Many of the coup plotters are now active politically in the opposition Islamic Action Society, the successor groups established by the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain.