Iranians rally against Saudi merger plan

Iranians have taken to the streets to protest against Saudi Arabia’s bid for a merger with Bahrain as well as the Manama regime’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. The protesters in Tehran staged a rally following the Friday Prayers. They described the plan as treason against Bahraini people. Saudi Arabia is seeking to merge with Bahrain in line with plans to unify the six Arab member states of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC). The [P]GCC members, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman, met in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Monday to discuss closer “union” among the six countries. They failed to make a concrete decision on forming a confederation that would initially merge Saudi Arabia with Bahrain but agreed to continue further discussions over the plan, which was put forward by Saudi Arabia. In December 2011, Saudi King Abdullah urged the council members to move “beyond the stage of cooperation and into the stage of unity in a single entity.” The Saudi plan would give Manama internal political autonomy while Riyadh would stay in charge of the country’s military affairs. The Islamic Republic of Iran says the plan is aimed at quelling the protests in Bahrain as the Al Khalifa regime is unable to stop the peaceful demonstrations in the country. In their rallies, the Iranians also criticized Riyadh for serving the US agenda in the region by helping Manama's crackdown on anti-government protests. Bahrainis have been holding anti-government demonstrations since mid-February 2011, calling on the US-backed Al Khalifa family to leave power. On March 14, 2011, more than 1,000 Saudi troops entered Bahrain to assist the Manama government in crushing the popular protests in the Persian Gulf Island. According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds have been arrested in the regime crackdown.