Manama, Tehran exchange ambassadors

Bahraini Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Abdul Nabi Abdullah Shawale has announced that Manama and Tehran will again exchange ambassadors, two years after the two countries reduced diplomatic representation to the level of charge d'affairs.

Iranian dailies on Wednesday quoted the Bahraini minister, currently visiting Tehran, as saying that, "The current level of relations will improve to the level of ambassadors." The two countries summoned their ambassadors in June 1996, after the accusations by Manama government that Tehran provoked violence in Bahrain.

For a long time, Manama has been asserting that Iran supports the destabilization efforts against the government among the majority Shiite population which seek representation in government. Tehran denies these accusations.

After mediation by Syria in the summer of 1996, relations have improved between the two countries, and the question of resuming relations at the level of ambassadors was repeatedly discussed.