Iraq returns envoy to Bahrain after diplomatic misunderstanding

According to Al Mayadeen, the Iraqi government returned its Chargé d’Affaires, Moayad Omar Abdul Rahman, to Bahrain on 30 March following a diplomatic misunderstanding after Manama accused him of breaching diplomatic norms.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein spoke with his Bahraini counterpart, Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, during a phone conversation and stressed the necessity for Manama and Baghdad to bolster bilateral relations.

According to the Bahrain News Agency, earlier that day, Bahrain’s National Contact center spokesperson Issa al-Abbasi revealed that Manama’s claims regarding the Iraqi chargé d’affaires’ repeated breaches of diplomatic norms “is not related to commercial arrangements in the field of transportation.”

This announcement came a day after Hussein called for the return of Baghdad’s Charge D’Affaires from the Bahraini kingdom, subsequent to accusations by Manama’s foreign ministry on 28 March.

Abbasi had further remarked that Abdul Rahman’s repeated violations of diplomatic norms contradict Baghdad’s mission to Manama, considering that the Bahraini government perceives these violations as interfering with the kingdom’s internal affairs. He added that the violations counter several principles of the UN charter.

This comes a few days after it was announced that a Bahraini delegation is set to visit Iran in a bid to bolster bilateral relations between Manama and Tehran.

Since Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed relations earlier this month, the kingdom’s regional allies, such as the UAE and Bahrain, have begun to approach Tehran for bilateral talks.

In 2011, alongside the Iraqi government, Iran strongly condemned Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Bahrain, which aided the Al-Khalifa monarchy’s crackdown on the predominantly Shia anti-government protests. As a result, the two countries expelled each other’s ambassadors. The following year, the Bahraini foreign ministry announced the reinstatement of an Iranian envoy to the Gulf country.

The Al-Khalifa monarchy of Bahrain is a Sunni ruling minority that governs Bahrain’s Shia majority with an iron fist. It is also known to crack down strongly on dissidents and imprison them without evidence. Bahrain is known for having the most political prisoners in the region.