Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's media affairs advisor and former information minister Nabeel Al-Hamer revealed during an interview with Saudi Al-Yaum newspaper that a number of Iranians entered Bahrain with valid not forged passports by bridging a persons not specified in his statement.

His statement is considered to contradict a statement by the Interior Ministry, which announced earlier that it had arrested 14 Iranian nationals who entered the country with forged passports, also accusing a number of Bahraini nationals of Iranian origin of having arranged for them their entry to the country.

"The Iranians are trying as much as possible to intervene," Al-Hamer said, as he spoke about the so-called Iranian interventions in Bahrain. "We severed all these means [of intervention] but we cannot completely end acts of sabotage. There is the Fifth Column and sleeper cells, and days ago you heard of the arrests of 14 Iranians who entered the country with valid passports," he added.

The Journalist asked: "But Media outlets mentioned that they were forged passports!!? "No, no, the passports are 100% valid," said Al-Hamer. "We are facing terrorist elements backed by a terrorist state, regime and organization that has financial as well as other capabilities. According to my information, they entered Bahrain via valid passports issued by bribes. They are Iranian nationals. We do not know the purpose of their presence in our country."

On September 8, 2018, the Interior Ministry issued a statement in which the Director-General of the General Directorate of Investigation and Criminal Evidence said that "14 Iranians who had entered the country with forged Asian passports and fake names had been arrested," noting that the employers with whom the defendants were apprehended were summoned as well.

He said that "immediately after the confirmation of the preliminary information available in this regard, research and investigation were commenced, which resulted in the identification of suspects and their arrests, as it turned out that they hold Iranian passports but purchased Asian passports with sums of money, for the purpose of entering the Kingdom of Bahrain in collaboration with Bahraini nationals of Iranian origin."

Arabic Version