During the February-March 2011 civil unrest in Bahrain, attention was drawn to Iran's ties with members of Bahrain's opposition movement. These relationships are rooted in a sectarian commonality — both countries are majority Shia. However, Bahrain is ruled by the al-Khalifa family, a Sunni monarchy, though an estimated 70 percent of the population is Shia. As the only country in the Middle East in which the Shia wield an overwhelming influence in the government, Iran has offered its support — both overt and covert — to Shiite groups elsewhere in the region, including Bahrain. The full extent of Iran's assets in Bahrain is unknown, but the overwhelming response by the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to the March protests was, in part, a message to Tehran that the GCC would not easily relinquish Sunni control over Bahrain in the form of the al-Khalifa monarchy. This STRATFOR infographic examines Iran's ties to several of the Shiite opposition clerics and leaders contending for influence in Bahrain.
