Iran website recruits ‘jihadists’ for Bahrain ‘war’

DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)

Iranian authorities have licensed a website calling for “war,” including the use of volunteer suicide militants, against what its founders see as the “invasion” of Bahrain by troops from countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Raheel, Arabic for “departure,” seeks to mobilize public opinion against the intervention of the GCC joint Peninsula Shield Force in Bahrain.

The website features Quranic verses that call for Jihad, or holy war, and backs those calls with photos and videos showing alleged human rights violations by the GCC troops. The website, however, does not show any GCC troops cracking down on civilians in the streets.

The website claims that a “redeemer” would wage war against Arab Gulf countries, Israel, and the United states, pointing out that this so-called “redeemer” has played a role in the popular uprisings of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

According to the website, the divine promise of the redeemer’s advent is materializing.

The website calls upon volunteers to engage in “martyrdom” attacks in Bahrain and reassures them that their data will be kept confidential and that they will be notified by email of the missions they are to carry.

According to the website, 1,858 have so far volunteered, 60% of them are from Iran, 18% from Bahrain, and the others from several countries in the region including Kuwait.

The domain of Raheel is the Iranian “ir” which shows that it is supported by the government.

(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid)