Middle East
Protestors wave Palestinian and Iraqi flags outside the Bahrain embassy in Baghdad on June 28, 2019.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Iraq for “consultations” on Friday morning after a crowd stormed the Bahraini embassy in Baghdad late on Thursday night, according to a statement from Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The storming has been met with widespread condemnation from Iraqi and Gulf nation officials.
“The Foreign Ministry has decided to summon Ambassador Salah Ali al-Maliki, the Bahrain Kingdom’s ambassador to the Republic of Iraq, for consultations,” said the ministry statement condemning the embassy’s storming.
It added that the Iraqi government has “full responsibility” to protect Bahrain's embassy, consulate and diplomatic staff.
Late on Thursday night, Iraqi protestors stormed the Bahraini embassy in Baghdad in response to Bahrain’s decision to host the “Peace for Prosperity” conference, where Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior adviser to United States President Donald Trump, proposed a Israel-Palestine peace plan.
Protestors lowered the Bahraini flag, waving those of Iraq and Palestine instead.
Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi political analyst, called the incident “embarrassing” in a Facebook post, asserting that the action was futile as hurting Bahraini embassy staff won’t make “Israel shake or have Quds (Jerusalem) victorious.”
Iraq abstained from participating in the conference, upholding its policy of backing a Palestinian state and no normalization with Israel.
Iraqi government officials, including the president, have been quick to condemn the storming.
President of Iraq Barham Salih received a phone call from the King of Bahrain, Hamad Bin Issa al-Khalifa, according to a readout from the presidential office, who thanked Iraq for its response to the storming and “praised bilateral ties between the two countries”.
“These behaviors are not in Iraqi interests, and the government has taken measures to hold those involved and delinquents accountable,” added the statement.
“The government expresses its deep regret due to some protestors…exercising vandalism that violates laws, state authority, and the immunity of diplomatic missions,” Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement early on Friday.
Security forces took measures to expel the crowd and provide protection for Bahraini staff, he added.
Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was also quick to denounce the action by the crowd, adding it won’t let it affect bilateral ties with Bahrain.
“We reiterate our commitment to the inviolability of diplomatic missions and the necessity for its security not to be endangered… we won’t allow such actions to affect the brotherly ties between the two countries,” a ministry statement said in the early hours of Friday.
Newly-appointed Minister of Interior of Iraq Yassin Tahir al-Yassiri visited the Bahraini embassy after the storming, according to ministry spokesperson Saad Maan, who vowed that “investigative and legal measures” would be taken against those arrested.
Condemnation also came from other countries, including Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Bahrain.
“What is now happening to the Bahrain Kingdom embassy in Baghdad is deeply regretful,” said Thamir al-Sabhan, the Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs in a tweet on Thursday.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of fellow ally the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Anwar Gargash, called the incident “unacceptable, reprehensible and a dangerous escalation on a political and legal level,” in a tweet on Thursday night.
No organisation has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, though the storming of a staunch Saudi ally’s embassy has been met with blame for Iran-affiliated Shiite militias.
Former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Hoshyar Zebari tweeted on Thursday night that “this lawlessness and militias rule has to be stopped.”
The incident may well sabotage Iraq’s delicate balancing act between the US and its regional ally Saudi Arabia on the one hand and Iran on the other, as the three countries navigate heightened tensions. Iraqi officials have said repeatedly that they do not want to be caught in the crossfire of any US-Iran military confrontation.
Updated at 2:47pm
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