Overview
- Bahrain’s Interior Ministry, which announced the arrests Saturday, said legal proceedings are under way and that investigators will keep pursuing the case.
- Officials allege espionage for foreign entities and praise for Iranian attacks, pointing to earlier cases where suspects used high‑resolution photos and encrypted apps to send site coordinates to the IRGC.
- The crackdown followed March detentions tied to spying claims and a late‑April move that stripped 69 people of citizenship for allegedly supporting Iran.
- Human-rights groups, including the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, condemned the citizenship revocations as unlawful and warned of statelessness, while an activist said prominent Shi’a clerics were among those held.
- Regional authorities frame the actions as part of a shared response to Iranian missile and drone strikes, with the UAE saying on April 20 it uncovered a separate Iran‑linked group.