Iran Focus
The move, which was effective immediately, followed remarks by a senior Iranian official claiming Tehran had sovereignty over Bahrain, the Foreign Ministry said.
Ali Akbar Nateq Nuri, a member of Iran's State Expediency Council and a former Interior Minister and Majlis (Parliament) Speaker, said on February 20 that Bahrain was formerly Iran's 14th province and was represented in the Iranian Parliament.
Nateq Nuri, a mid-ranking cleric, is a close adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On February 25, Rabat recalled its charge d'affaires in Tehran over the affair.
Following the remarks, Bahrain immediately suspended talks over natural gas imports and called on Iran to not interfere in its internal affairs.
Saudi Arabia called the remarks "irresponsible", and the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdulrahman al-Attiyah accused Iran of often having a "hostile, unfriendly and unjustifiable" stance towards the Gulf States.
