(by Alessandra Antonelli)
(ANSAmed) – DUBAI, NOVEMBER 4 – Four members of Bahrain’s
opposition were served life sentences and another six were
sentenced to 15 years in jail on charges of organizing a cell
backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards with the aim of
destabilizing the country by murdering key figures.

The sentence, Gulf News reports, follows another verdict
against the opposition: Ali Salman, leader of the main
opposition party Al Wefaq, was charged with insulting and
telling lies against authorities.

In Bahrain, a small and powerful emirate in the Gulf, a
Sunni royal family rules on a Shiite-majority population.

Authorities brutally cracked down on the protest in Pearl Square
following Arab Spring demonstrations in February-March 2011 and
asking for more democracy and the end of discriminations against
Shiites.

Bharain accused Iran of backing and funding protesters.

After the crackdown, Bahrain gave in to international
pressure and set up a special committee to investigate abuse,
arrests and casualties and start a process of national
reconciliation.

After a first round of talks failed, dialogue between
political and social sides resumed last February but once again
froze amid reciprocal accusations and misunderstandings.

Also in February, Manama accused Tehran’s Revolutionary
Guards of setting up a terror cell on its soil with the aim of
carrying out attacks on the country’s infrastructures including
an airport and the interior ministry.

The cell, authorities said, was part of the wider Imam Army
created by Bahrain residents and foreigners with links to Iraqi
groups of Hezbollah. (ANSAmed)