Velayati Warns Bahrain: Know Your Limits Before Forcing Iran’s Hand
Senior adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei warns Bahrain against provoking Iran, calls for an end to pressure on Bahraini Shiites, and sharply criticizes US influence in the Gulf.
Iran, PUREWILAYAH.COM – In a June 29, 2026 interview with Farhikhtegan, later quoted by Tasnim, Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei and Secretary-General of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening, issued a sharp warning to Bahrain, accusing its rulers of deepening cooperation with the United States while continuing hostile policies toward Iran.
Velayati also urged Bahraini authorities to end pressure on the country’s Shiite population and senior religious scholars, saying Iran remains committed to good-neighborly relations if Bahrain changes its approach.
“Know Your Limits”
Velayati said Bahrain has granted extensive privileges to the United States in the hope of securing Washington’s protection and provided the greatest assistance to the US during the recent conflict.
“Bahrain is seriously warned to know its limits and not play with its own future by forcing Iran to adopt harsher decisions,” he said.
He added that the Islamic Republic has consistently pursued a policy of good-neighborliness and restraint toward Bahrain, provided that its rulers “do not overstep their limits.”
End Pressure on Bahraini Shiites
Velayati called on Bahrain to lift pressure from the country’s Shiite population, whom he described as the original inhabitants of the island.
He also demanded that restrictions on senior religious scholars, including Sheikh Isa Qassim, be removed and that Bahraini citizens living abroad be allowed to return to their homeland.
Velayati said Iran would continue to pursue lasting friendship and good-neighborly relations with Bahrain if those measures are implemented.
He added that the policy established by Imam Khomeini, the Martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, and Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei is based on mutual respect, protecting the rights of the Bahraini people, and ending pressure on supporters of the Islamic Republic in Bahrain.
Sharp Criticism of Washington
Velayati said Britain had once deceived several Gulf rulers into believing they could confront Iran and argued that the United States has now taken over the same role following Britain’s imperial decline.
He added that Arab governments had spent billions of dollars from the wealth of the Muslim world purchasing American protection, only to become more vulnerable.
Speaking about the current US president, Velayati said:
“He is a foolish man who speaks recklessly. He lacks patience and prudence, and every morning wakes up saying something new that no rational person—American or otherwise—can predict.”
Kuwait and Bahrain Revisited
Velayati recalled that during the Iran-Iraq War, Kuwait’s officials had supported Saddam Hussein’s government.
He said Iran nevertheless condemned Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait within eighteen hours and opened its borders to Kuwaiti refugees, while other countries, including members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned the invasion only later.
Velayati also reiterated Iran’s historical position on Bahrain, saying the island remained part of Iran until 1971 and arguing that Britain played the central role in separating Bahrain from Iran.
He also argued that Britain reshaped Bahrain's demographic composition by settling non-Bahraini Arab rulers on the island and replacing much of its indigenous Shiite population, describing the process as "a form of religious apartheid." (PW)