Bahrain expels Iran diplomat, Iran warns of response
Iranian diplomat given 72 hours to leave Bahrain after he was declared persona non grata
Manama: Tensions between Iran and Bahrain escalated after Tehran on Tuesday vowed to retaliate against a diplomat's expulsion by the rulers in Manama.
"The charges against our diplomat are totally baseless and we reserve the right to retaliate this move," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying.
On Monday, Bahrain gave an Iranian diplomat 72 hours to leave the country after he was declared a persona non grata.
The diplomatic note on Hojjat Ilah Rahmani, the second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Manama, was handed by the foreign ministry to the Iranian charge d'affaires Mahdi Islami.
According to the ministry, the diplomat had links with the spy ring busted in Kuwait and which according to investigations was working for Iran.
Earlier this month, a court in Kuwait sentenced two Iranians and a Kuwaiti to death for their alleged role in the seven-member espionage network.
The foreign ministry said that it rejected foreign interference in its domestic affairs and in those of any of the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
The ministry urged Tehran to put an end to "irresponsible behaviour", saying that it was a dangerous violation of international relations and a threat to security and stability in the region.
