The Sunni-ruled Gulf State of Bahrain has arrested 15 people it accuses of attempting to “cause chaos” during Shiite religious commemorations that culminated last Thursday, police said.
Officers detained “15 vandals for indulging in abusive activities to cause chaos” over the 10 days of Ashura with funding from Iran, a police statement said late Tuesday.
It did not give further details of the alleged offences during the commemorations, which mark the seventh century martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed, the decisive event in the split between the two branches of the Muslim faith.
Police released the names and photographs of the 15 detainees, all of them apparently young.
The statement alleged that the accused had received funds from Iran through Bahraini political exiles.
“An investigation revealed the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (Pasdaran) financed the operation through terrorists living as fugitives in Iran, mainly the members of the February 14 group,” it said.