Granted independence by Britain in 1970, the Shiite-majority island kingdom of Bahrain has long been the object of Iranian designs. Tehran, which has been supporting insurrectionist groups there for years, has recently escalated its rhetoric. Michael Rubin writes:
[T]he Iranian government appears determined to test President Trump’s resolve by ramping up pressure on Bahrain. Earlier this month, Hojjat al-Islam Mojtaba Zonour, [a high-ranking Iranian official], explicitly threatened to level the U.S. base in Bahrain with ballistic missiles. . . .
Every Friday for 38 years, either the supreme leader or a cleric appointed by him has led Friday prayers in central Tehran and delivered a sermon that highlights the official priorities and positions of the Islamic Republic. This past Friday, the appointed prayer leader . . . told the Bahraini government, “Failure awaits you; your destruction is near.”
Such rhetoric should not be dismissed as empty. After all, the Islamic Republic is on the warpath. Its carefully cultivated proxies are the dominant power in Lebanon, prop up the Syrian government, . . . and have staged a coup d’état in Yemen. The possibility that Iranian officials might target not only the U.S. presence in Bahrain but the entire country is not unthinkable. . . .
If President Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wish to show allies that America will once again stand by them, and if Trump is serious about standing up to terrorism and aggression, it is time to support Bahrain forcefully and openly. Simply put, Tehran will interpret silence as weakness, and weakness as an invitation to further aggression.
Read more on Commentary: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/flashpoint-bahrain-iran/