Iranian politicians and military commanders have condemned the Sunni ruling family in Bahrain for revoking the citizenship of the country’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim.
No statement surprised and gained more traction in Iranian and regional media than that of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. “They certainly know that trespassing the sanctuary of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim is a red line whose crossing will set fire to Bahrain and the region and will leave people with no path but armed resistance,” the statement by Soleimani read.