The Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain () was a Shia Islamist militant groupMinorities and State in the Arab World, edited by Ofra Bengio and Gabriel Ben-Dor, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999 p177 that advocated theocratic rule in Bahrain from 1981 to the 1990s. It was based in Iran and trained and financed by Iranian intelligence and Revolutionary Guards.The International Politics of the Middle East by Raymond Hinnebusch, 2003, Manchester University Press, p194
Aims and activities
The professed aim of the Front was the 'uprising of all Muslims under Imam Khomeini'.Iran's Persian Gulf Policy: From Khomeini to Khatami by Christin Marschall, Routledge, 2003, p32 It came to international prominence as the front organisation for the 1981 failed coup attempt in Bahrain, which attempted to install Iraqi Ayatollah Hadi al-Modarresi as the spiritual leader of a theocratic state.Low Intensity Conflict in the Third World Stephen Blank, et al, Inc NetLibrary, Press, Air University (U.S.), 1988, p8 Al-Modarresi in addition to heading the IFLB served as Khomeini's “personal representative” in Bahrain.Iran's Persian Gulf Policy: From Khomeini to Khatami by Christin Marschall, Routledge, 2003, p32
According to Daniel Byman of Georgetown University, Iran's backing of the Front was part of a strategy to support radical Islamist groups throughout the region:
The Front served as an Iranian proxyMinorities and State in the Arab World, edited by Ofra Bengio and Gabriel Ben-Dor, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999 p177 in the 1980s. It is also referred to as a 'virtual organization' of Iranian intelligence.Shmuel Bar, Iranian Terrorist Policy and the “Export of Revolution” , Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, Institute for Policy and Strategy In Low Intensity Conflict in the Third World by Stephen Blank et al., it is argued that the Front's attempted coup d’etat in 1981 cannot be understood without reference to Iran's geo-strategic objectives in its war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq:
1990s bombings The 1981 coup was not a success and following the failure to spur revolution, the Front became associated with bomb attacks, often against 'soft' civilian targets. On 1 November 1996, the Front claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Diplomat Hotel, with the group telling the Associated Press "We put a bomb in the Diplomat hotel 20 minutes ago...after the feast...tell the government that we will destroy everyplace."Islamic Extremist Bombs Strike Bahrain and Algeria, Emergency Net News Service, November 2, 1996 In the 1990s uprising in Bahrain the Front only played a marginal role, as its relationship with Iran, the perception that it represented the “Shirazi faction” (i.e. followers of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Shirazi) despite the fact that Shirazi and Khomeini had a complicated relationship and its strategy of bombings all served to undermine its support among the wider community.
Dissolution The IFLB was disbanded in 2002 in response to King Hamad's reforms. Its members were amnestied from prison and exile and most returned to Bahrain to work within the political process in 2001, and were active in the Islamic Action Party and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).Saudi-Iranian Relations Since the Fall of Saddam, Frederic Wehrey, Theodore W. Karasik, Alireza Nader, Jeremy J. Ghez, Lydia Hansell, Rand, 2009, page 15 The BCHR was banned in 2004, and the Islamic Action Party was banned in 2011, when it supported the 2011 Bahraini uprising.
See also List of political parties in Bahrain
References
External links IFLB website (outdated)