The Ministry of Interior of Bahrain announced in an official notice that its citizens are banned from traveling to Iran and Iraq until further notice. In the statement, the reason for the decision was cited as “ongoing security tensions in the region,” and citizens were urged to refrain from traveling to the two countries.
The decision comes as part of a series of security measures adopted by Manama in recent months, which have intensified alongside the escalation of conflicts and retaliatory attacks in the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East. Bahrain had previously called on its citizens to leave Iranian territory during the height of military tensions.
According to official and media reports, since the outbreak of the recent regional conflicts, Bahrain has detained hundreds of individuals on charges including “cooperation, espionage, or connections with Iran or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).” Bahraini officials have announced that some of these individuals have been sentenced to life imprisonment and, in certain cases, had their citizenship revoked.
These measures are being implemented at a time when tensions between Iran and Bahrain have persisted for years, and the two countries have lacked official diplomatic and economic relations for nearly a decade. Bahraini authorities maintain that the detentions were carried out within the framework of “countering security threats and preserving domestic stability.”
International organizations and regional media outlets have also reported that, alongside the escalation of military conflicts in the Persian Gulf, several Gulf littoral states, including Bahrain, have raised their security alert levels and imposed travel restrictions.
Under these circumstances, Manama’s new decision to ban travel to Iran and Iraq is being viewed as part of a broader trend of security restrictions and the redefinition of precautionary policies by regional countries in response to recent developments.
