Manama: Bahrain on Monday postponed to May 8 the trial of two Iranians and a Bahraini charged with spying for Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The trio is accused of having "contacts from 2002 until April 2010 with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to give them military and economic information ... with the intention of damaging the national interest".

Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have locked horns over the former's interference in their domestic affairs.

The tension deepened after Iran called for the withdrawal of forces belonging to the Peninsula Shield, the military arm of the six-member alliance, from Bahrain where they have been stationed under a mutual defence agreement.

Meanwhile, in Kuwait, a local newspaper quoted Marshal Shaikh Khalifa Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, the Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF) as saying that Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, Kuwaiti personalities and the intelligence services of foreign countries had been implicated in the plot to overthrow Bahrain's government.

"Those who called for the rallies at the GCC Roundabout do not represent the opposition. They are traitors who have betrayed their country," Shaikh Khalifa told Al Rai daily.

‘Satellite of Iran'

"They did not seek reforms, but rather the downfall of the regime and the establishment of a republic that would be a satellite of Iran. They should, therefore, leave for Tehran because we cannot coexist with them," he said.

According to Shaikh Khalifa, Bahrain witnessed an Iranian plot carried out by Bahrainis who had "given themselves up to Iran."

He added: "Hezbollah and its secretary general Hassan Nasrallah were the proxies used by Iran, but, praise be to God, we were able to clear Bahrain and restore security."

According to the BDF commander-in-chief, Western countries were also implicated in the plot. "They used their embassies in Manama to provide the traitors with intelligence data and gave them logistical and media support. Those who are on trial now were trained in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq," he said.

He also accused "prominent Kuwaiti figures" and private satellite channels of supporting the anti-state groups financially, politically and with the media.

"There are Kuwaiti merchants and influential personalities who visited the roundabout, supported the traitors financially and propagated their slogan about bringing down the regime on their satellite channels," he said.