Political space is narrowing in Bahrain as the government steps up its efforts to combat terrorism and weaken the Shiite opposition, which receives, at minimum, moral and ideological support from Iran.

Eleven months ago, Bahrain’s judiciary found the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the country’s dominant Shiite opposition group, guilty of fostering terrorism and dissolved it. In 2015, it had convicted its secretary-general, Sheikh Ali Salman, of “inciting hatred and disobedience and insulting public institutions.” Meanwhile, Bahrain’s prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, whose citizenship authorities annulled, may face deportation. Almost three months after a Bahraini firing squad executed three Shiite men convicted earlier this year on terrorism charges, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa approved a constitutional amendment that permits military courts to try civilians, a move that Bahraini officials maintain will enhance the counterterrorism efforts of the security apparatus.

Against this backdrop, last month brought what the Bahrain Institute has called the “deadliest day since protests began in 2011.” On May 23, clashes between security forces and protesters resulted in five deaths and 286 arrests as the former conducted an operation in Diraz, Qassim’s hometown. At the time, the cleric’s supporters were holding a protest in the town, which Bahraini security forces have blockaded for several months amid calls from Qassim’s followers for Bahrainis to stage gatherings across the archipelago nation. The escalating violence, which the government says followed a “terrorist cell” attacking officers, involved the firing of tear gas and shotguns.

The usual actors responded, as expected. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quick to link the loss of life in Diraz to the May 21 speech delivered by US President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia in which he praised Arab Gulf rulers and offered his support. Zarif tweeted that the “emboldened Bahrain regime” had waged a “deadly attack on peaceful protests,” marking the “first concrete result of POTUS cozying up to despots in Riyadh.” Hezbollah warned that harming Qassim “will open the doors for [an] unpredictable outcome and dangers.”