Iran war revives Bahrain’s conflict with Shiite Muslim majority

Shaken by the accuracy of Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and support for them among some Bahrainis, authorities in the Gulf island nation have launched a crackdown on Shiite Muslim clerics they accuse of fostering allegiance to Tehran at home.

Bahraini officials have framed the move in existential terms, saying Iran seeks to undermine and ultimately topple the leadership of the only Gulf country that is ruled by a Sunni Muslim family but populated mostly by Shiites.

Critics, including rights groups, say the arrests and the stripping of citizenship from 69 citizens of Iranian heritage are a new blow to free speech and religious freedom in a country that crushed 2011 Arab spring pro-democracy protests.