Iran urges Arab League to show reaction to Yemen, Bahrain's developments

Iran on Tuesday called on the Arab League to show reaction to the developments in Yemen and Bahrain and prevent the continued massacre of the Yemeni and Bahraini people by the two countries' security forces."As Iran's deputy foreign minister, I expect the Arab countries and the Arab League to feel as much concern about what is now happening in Yemen as they do about events in Syria," Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian told FNA. He also blasted the Arab League for ignoring the massacre of tens of innocent Muslim people in Yemen and supporting the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) initiative which granted immunity to the Yemeni dictator, Ali Abdallah Saleh, and his family. Yemen has witnessed one of the longest and bloodiest uprisings of the Islamic Awakening, with hundreds of Yemenis dead and thousands more wounded since January. Over the past months, security forces had opened fire on protesters whenever they attempted to march towards the city center. The Iranian diplomat also lambasted the Arab bloc's silence on arresting, torturing and killing of the opposition forces and people in Bahrain by the al-Khalifa forces while showing serious reaction to events in Syria. Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty's over-40-year rule. Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar - were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors. So far, tens of people have been killed, hundreds have gone missing and more than 1,000 others have been injured. Yet, protests and rallies continued throughout the country in defiance of the martial law put in place by Manama since February. Bahrainis have repeatedly condemned Riyadh's major role in the suppression of their revolution, and underlined that they would continue protests until the Al Khalifa regime collapses.