" Bahrain's aspiration for independence... Curbing the Pahlavi Shah's ambition "
Bahrain.. that Peaceful island in the heart of the Arabian Gulf, and in the hearts of the leaders and peoples of “Gulf Cooperation Council” indeed, it was one of the most important pearl trading centers and a meeting place for merchants from various Arab regions in the past, and whoever goes back a little and looks at the history pages will find that Iran is a bad neighbor who raised for the first time Bahrain’s subordination in 1927 on the League of Nations arguing that ” It controlled Bahrain for most of history” Falsely and untruthfully, trying to overturn the historical facts, and everyone knows very well that British colonialism had strong control over the Arabian Gulf, including Bahrain Island, so with the end of World War II, Iran went to Britain, demanding of Iranian sovereignty imposition over Bahrain, and at the end of 1945 Iran asked – brazenly – the United States to abstain from drilling for oil in Bahrain, so that Iran’s shah exploited the colonial rivalry that has begun to loom on the horizon between Britain and the rising American power.
Pahlavi Tehran kept repeating its claims of Bahrain’s subordination, even including it in the educational curricula since 1946 AD, and has refused to deal with Bahraini passports, or even Bahraini postage stamps. In order to root this false idea that contradicts the historical truth, the year 1957 AD witnessed a new escalation from Iran when the Iran’s Cabinet announced its decision to annex Bahrain, a period of time that witnessed mass protests in the Arab East Countries against Eisenhower’s project to fill the “British and French colonial” vacuum, in cooperation with the Iranian Shah, Iran was waiting for opportunities and favorable political conditions to achieve its ambitions by filling the “vacuum” in Bahrain, as soon as the British Mandate was ready to leave Arab Bahrain, and in 1965, Iran and Britain began talks on Iran’s state borders in the Arabian Gulf, and the talks failed due to a dispute over Bahrain that Iran wanted to join.
The story began when Britain announced its withdrawal from East Suez in 1968 AD, when the Bahraini authority was worried about the future considering the Iranian’s claims of Bahrain’s subordination to it, and Before the 1960s passed, a diplomatic storm arose at its end in 1969 AD, with preparations for the end of British Mandate era, furthermore the country was prepared to declare its independence, Shah Pahlavi’s government objected, claiming that independence contradicts the wishes of Bahrainis! It should be noted that in 1965 a widespread popular Bahraini uprising took place against the British Mandate, demanding independence, so that British, Iranian, and Bahraini deliberations took place in the United Nations, which culminated in accepting the principle of self-determination, after that, Iran and Britain submitted a request to the Secretary-General at the time, “U Thant” to send a fact-finding committee; In order to ascertain Bahrainis’ aspirations, a referendum concluded in 1970 with the recognition of Bahrainis’ desire for independence, so the Security Council resolution was issued on May 11, 1970 AD, to rule on the right of the people of Bahrain to belong to an independent, sovereign state, after that these developments led to the declaration of Bahrain’s independence on the 15th August 1971 AD.
The question here: Has the Persian narrative brought their rights to Bahrain? Pahlavi Iran opposed its independence from Britain in 1971 AD, and initially rejected the referendum results, but in the end Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi conceded this result, and pages of history of Iranian expansionist ambitions were folded, so the seventies witnessed a period of calm between the two countries, in which the Shah’s rule replaced expansionist aspirations with broad political and security influence, In addition to economic cooperation, which led, at the time, to call a title of “Gulf’s policeman” upon Iran Shah, and whoever looks into that matter finds that the Bahraini people, with their leadership, notables, intellectuals, and the general public, were the difficult figure and the safety valve for Bahrain that preserved it from Iranian expansionist ambitions to this day.