The Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية لتحرير البحرين) was a
Shi'a
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
Islamist militant group that advocated theocratic rule in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...
from 1981 to the 1990s. It was based in Iran and trained and financed by Iranian intelligence and
Revolutionary Guards
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...
.
Aims and activities
The professed aim of the Front was the ‘uprising of all Muslims under Imam Khomeini’. It came to international prominence as the front organisation for the
1981 failed coup in Bahrain
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, which attempted to install
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i
Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Etymology
The title is originally derived from Arabic word ...
Hadi al-Modarresi
Ayatollah Sayyid Hadi al-Husayni al-Modarresi ( ar, هادي الحسيني المدرسي; fa, ; b. 1947), is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia scholar, leader and orator. He is viewed as a charismatic speaker, enamoring many Muslims, radiating a certain ...
as the spiritual leader of a theocratic state. Al-Modarresi in addition to heading the IFLB served as Khomeini’s “personal representative” in Bahrain.
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 proxy in the 1980s. It is also referred to as a 'virtual organization' of Iranian intelligence. 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." In the
1990s uprising in Bahrain
The 1990s uprising in Bahrain ( ar, الانتفاضة التسعينية في البحرين) also known as the uprising of dignity ( ar, انتفاضة الكرامة) was an uprising in Bahrain between 1994 and 1999 in which leftists, libera ...
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
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad al-Husayni al-Shirazi ( ar, محمد الحسيني الشيرازي; fa, ; August 31, 1928 – December 17, 2001), commonly known as Imam Shirazi, was an Iranian- Iraqi Shia marja' and political activist.
Ear ...
) 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
Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999.
He is the son of Isa bin Salman ...
'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
The Islamic Action Society ( ar, جمعية العمل الإسلامي ''Jamʿīyah al-ʿAmal al-ʾIslāmī''), sometimes shortened to ʿAmal ( ar, أمل), was one of the main Islamist political parties in Bahrain, and mainly appealed to Shī� ...
and the
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain, .
[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 Bahran Centre for Human Rights was banned in 2004, and the Islamic Action Party was banned in 2011, when it supported the
2011 Bahraini uprising
The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni Islam, Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spr ...
.
References
External links
IFLB website(outdated)
Politics of Bahrain
Shia Islamist groups
Bahrain, Islamic Front for the Liberation of