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Keep an Eye on Bahrain
One Test Biden May Not Have Anticipated . . . [Michael Rubin]Keep an eye on Bahrain. Over the last month, Iranian rhetoric against the continued independence of the tiny Arab island nation has really picked up, with repeated declarations that Bahrain isn't independent, but really just a province of Iran. (Historically, Bahrain was part of Iran until the Portuguese separated it in 1522; it later became a British protectorate and a 1970 plebiscite confirmed the Bahraini desire to be independent). Iranian authorities have recently suggested seating Bahraini representatives in the Iranian parliament, categorizing Ahmadinejad's trips to the island nation as provincial trips, and broadcast interviews with Bahraini Shi'a predicting revolution within a year. Yesterday, Bahrain stopped allowing Iranians to travel to the island, and announced they were cutting off oil imports from Iran. Of course, much of this may be simple rhetoric, but then again, so was Saddam Hussein's Kuwait-is-our-19th province rhetoric until he made good on his threats. Bahrain is more complicated because of the U.S. navy's presence on the island. Posted by: Sherry 2009-02-19 |
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