Iranians rally against proposed Bahrain-Saudi union

TEHRAN, May 19 (MNA) - Iranian worshippers across the country held demonstrations after Friday prayers to protest the decision recently made by Persian Gulf Arab states to discuss a proposal for a closer political union that could begin with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. In the demonstration that was held outside the University of Tehran, the worshippers chanted slogans in condemnation of the proposal and the Bahraini government’s wrong policies and expressed their support for the Bahraini people. The leader of this week’s Friday prayers in Tehran, Hojjatoleslam Kazem Sediqi, told worshippers that the Al Khalifa government and the House of Saud must be aware that the Iranian people and other Muslim people in regional countries will not remain silent about this “American plot”. According to Press TV, Bahraini forces, backed by Saudi regime, again attacked the pro-democracy protesters near Manama on Friday with sound grenades and teargas canisters. Activists said several protesters were injured during the clashes. Once again demonstrators called for the release of prominent human rights activist Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for three months. The pro-democracy movement in Bahrain has been inspired by the Arab Spring which has so far toppled four dictators in the Arab world.