Bahrain summons Iran diplomat to protest against Khamenei's speech

Bahrain summoned on Sunday Iran's envoy and handed him a letter of protest following the Islamic Republic's supreme leader Ali Khamenei's pledge to back the "oppressed" nations in the Middle East region, including in Bahrain, according to the state media.

The report said Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdulla Abdullatif Abdulla lodged the protest in a meeting with Iran's acting charge d'affaires, Mortadha Sanubar, said BNA news agency.

In the meeting, the minister said Khamenei's speech represented "a flagrant and unacceptable interference in Bahrain's internal affairs," as well as a blatant encroachment on its sovereignty and independence, including a violation of the principles of the UN and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)."

The top diplomat demands an immediate end to similar statements, and suggested that Iran should concentrate instead on improving the living conditions of its people.

"It is crucial to commit to the principles of good neighborliness and non-intervention in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, respecting its sovereignty and independence, and abide fully by the international norms governing relations between sovereign countries," said the Ministry official.

On Saturday, Khamenei said in a speech, which was broadcast live to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, that the nuclear deal reached between Tehran and world powers would not change his country's support for the governments of Syria and Iraq, nor its support for "oppressed" people in Yemen and Bahrain, and the Palestinians.

Iran's top leader's remarks came only days after Iran and six world powers (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) reached a comprehensive nuclear deal in Vienna to put Iran's nuclear program under international scrutiny in exchange for the lift of sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.