The Separation of Bahrain from Iran and the bogus referendum, the unforgivable mistake is released

7/6/2021 13:35

The Separation of Bahrain from Iran and the bogus referendum, the unforgivable mistake by Ahmad Eghtedari, edited and compiled by Amir-Hosein Moradkhani, is published by The Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia, Centre for Iranian and Islamic Studies

CGIE: The Separation of Bahrain from Iran and the bogus referendum, the unforgivable mistake by Ahmad Eghtedari, edited and compiled by Amir-Hosein Moradkhani, is published by The Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia, Centre for Iranian and Islamic Studies. The late Ahmad Eghtedari is rightly the father of the Persian Gulf studies in Iran. Although prominent figures such as Sadid al-Saltanah, Abbas Eqbal Ashtiani, Sadeq Nash’at, and Mohit Tabatabai authored valuable works on the history and geography of the Persian Gulf before Ahmad Eghtedari, his works are significant, specifically for their emphasis on the national-historical interests and rights of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Ahmad Eghtedari lived at a time when foreigners, overtly and covertly, coveted Iran’s historical interests in the Persian Gulf. His patriotic character could not tolerate the foreign encroachments and headed him to respond by writing books on the history of the Iranian presence in the Persian Gulf.

This book is one of Eghtedari’s distinguished works in the field. In the foreword, he properly examines the published documents of the British political and security apparatus, and the political situation of Iran during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi. Moreover, he discusses the Iranian-British diplomatic talks on the Bahrain issue at the time and how the British paved the way for Bahrain’s formal secession from Iran during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah. He mentions that the bogus poll, conducted by Vittorio Guicciardi, the UN envoy, on the island’s independence from Iran was falsely called a referendum. In this book, with the help of archaeological findings, historical sources and published documents, he traces the history of Bahrain from ancient times and the continuous presence of Iranians in Bahrain from the Achaemenid period to the rise of Islam. Furthermore, he studies the history of the island, from the beginning of the Islamic period to its official separation from Iran in the Pahlavi period. Finally, it is necessary to point out that the book title was chosen by Ahmad Eghtedari himself.

He mentioned in the introduction of the book: The archipelago of Bahrain, along with the northern shores of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula (Laḥsāʼ = Al-ʼAḥsāʼ region) has been part of Iranian territory since pre-Achaemenid, and Parthian rule over the Persian Gulf and western Iran. In the Sassanid era, it was called the “state of Mishmāhig” and was directly related to the court of Ctesiphon. In recent centuries, in the early Qajar period, after the expulsion of the Portuguese from Hormuz island and East Africa, the Europeans invaded the Persian Gulf, and the rivalry of the Dutch, British, French, and German forces started there. As a consequence, Bahrain became undisputedly occupied by British forces in violation of all international laws. In order to protect its interests and implement its colonial policies, Britain concluded agreements with the Arab sheikhs on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf, officially and practically (but not legally) separated Bahrain from Iran and placed it under the Arab ruler of that region, Sheikh ʻIsā Āl Khalifa. Until the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iran refused to accept this illegal occupation. Particularly during the reign of Ahmad Shah Qajar and Reza Shah Pahlavi, negotiations and disputes took place between Iran and Britain; neither Ahmad Shah Qajar nor Reza Shah Pahlavi accepted this illegal and colonial separation. Therefore, until the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, Bahrain was considered as part of Iran. The postage stamps of Bahrain and Iran were alike, and the passage of Iranian and Bahraini citizens did not require the visa.

With the fictitious withdrawal of Britain from the Suez Canal and the Persian Gulf and the formation of the UAE government, the United Nations decided to hold a referendum in Bahrain. The Shah of Iran accepted, and apparently, a UN envoy named Guicciardi, who was commissioned to hold the referendum, claimed: The referendum was conducted, and the people of Bahrain agreed to secede from Iran. This bogus referendum was accepted by the King of Iran and approved by the National Assembly; subsequently, the separation of Bahrain from Iran, the unforgivable mistake, took place. Throughout history, Bahrain has always been part of the land of Iran; eighty percent of its people are Shiites and Persian speakers who are originally from Larestan, Khuzestan, Baluchistan, Bushehr, Dashtestan, and Hormozgan. They have never recognized or accepted this bogus referendum. In recent years, the Bahraini government has persecuted and killed Persian-speaking Shiites in Bahrain, resulting in their mass migration to Iran, Europe, and the United States.

However, in 1971, according to the agreement between the King of Iran and the British government, the three islands of Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa were captured by the Iranian army. Conceivably, the mere excuse for the agreement and the great mistake is the possibility of handing over three islands to Iran and the Iranian army deployment there. The king of Iran himself feared that after him, the Iranians would consider his act as betrayal (Alam’s Memoirs quoted from Bukhara magazine).

It is expected that the publication of this book leads the patriot Iranians to aid their Bahraini compatriots.

The Separation of Bahrain from Iran and the bogus referendum, the unforgivable mistake authored by Professor Ahmad Eghtedari and edited by Amir-Hosein Moradkhani, has been published by the CGIE press in 160 pages and 500 copies.

The book is available from June 2, 2021. Those interested can contact the CGIE press store for more information: 00982122297677, 00989127362684.