In the midst of rising tensions in the Middle East over the diplomatic standoff between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Bahrainian authorities claimed on Wednesday to have busted a terror cell in the country that allegedly had links to the Iranian revolutionary Guards Corp. 

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said the terror cell, named “Al Basta” and headed by two brothers, had plotted a series of bombings in the country, backed by the Iranian security forces. It said the terrorists had travelled to Iran for  “financial and logistic support”, and also to Lebanon to meet with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 

The report comes days after Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in cutting off diplomatic ties with Iran over the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran following the execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr -al-Nimr last week. 

Bahrain asked the Iranian mission in the kingdom to leave, and even cancelled flights to and from Iran. 

Protests had broken out in Bahrain following the Saudi execution, with many from the country’s Shia-majority population coming out onto the streets and clashing with the police. Bahrain is governed by Sunni rulers. 

In November last year, Bahrain had arrested 47 members of a terror group it claimed had links to “terrorist elements in Iran”.

The people arrested on Wednesday reportedly also had links to the people involved in the July 2015 terror attack in Shia-dominated Sitra, which killed two policemen, said Bahrain’s Interior Ministry.