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The Islamic Republic Commemorates Bahrain’s Independence From Britain 

The August 23 edition of the Iran Media Review explores how state-censored media used the commemoration of Bahrain’s independence from Britain to attack the Pahlavi regime for Bahrain’s separation from Iran.

Ali Alfoneh

Commemorating the anniversary of Bahrain’s August 14, 1971 independence from Britain, the Islamic Republic’s state-censored media focused on the island state’s separation from Iran and the alleged treason of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who renounced Iran’s claims on Bahrain. 

  • August 12: According to YJC News, Dezful Friday prayer leader Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Qazi Dezfouli called the Iranian Parliament’s recognition of Bahrain’s independence on May 14, 1970 “one of the treacherous acts of the Pahlavi regime.”  
  • August 14: Historian Yaqoub Tavakoli, in an interview with the Iranian Labour News Agency, claimed Pahlavi rulers “fundamentally lacked incentive to safeguard the territorial integrity of Iran. Such was the spirit of their governance.” 
  • August 14: Seyyed Javad Mousavi of the Political Studies and Research Institute released a September 22, 1969 document from the SAVAK, Iran’s pre-revolution intelligence service, reporting lack of interest of a visiting Iranian senator in the plight of the Persian-speaking Shia in Bahrain. 
  • August 14: Jahan News used the commemoration of Bahrain’s independence from Britain to attack Iran’s royal family in exile. Empress “Farah and Reza Pahlavi, who pretend to care about, and issue messages of solidarity with, the people of Iran, should be asked why they do not issue public statements on occasions such as the anniversary of separation of Bahrain from Iran.” 
  • August 15: Mehr News reported that Iranian internet platforms showed film director Ahmad Shafiee’s documentary “A Separation” about Bahrain’s independence from Iran. According to the news agency, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting will broadcast the two-part series. 
  • August 15: Taghrib News promoted a Twitter campaign propagating “the real independence of Bahrain.” 
  • August 16: Javan, mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published 11 reader comments all of which hold the Pahlavi regime responsible for the loss of Bahrain.  

While the regime’s attacks against its immediate predecessor, and Iran’s royal family in exile, are routine and serve the purpose of legitimizing Iran’s present rulers, Bahrain’s separation from Iran, which has hitherto been a political nonissue, is gradually turning into a main propaganda staple, likely to cause further tensions in Tehran’s relations with Manama. 

Ali Alfoneh

is a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. He is the author of Political Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Demise of the Clergy and the Rise of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (2020).

The views represented herein are the author’s or speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of AGSIW, its staff, or its board of directors.

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