Bahrain recalls envoy to Iran, seizes arms

Bahrain authorities have disrupted an attempt to smuggle high-grade explosives, automatic weapons and ammunition into the country by sea and have arrested two Bahraini suspects, the Interior Ministry said.
The two suspects had admitted receiving the shipment from Iranian handlers outside Bahrain's territorial waters, it said, adding that one of them had received military training in Iran in 2013.
The ministry statement said the coastguard intercepted a vessel on July 15 heading towards Bahrain and seized about 44kg of C4 explosive, eight Kalashnikov assault rifles, 32 Kalashnikov magazines, and ammunition and detonators.
In a related develoment Bahrain on Saturday decided to recall its ambassador to Iran for negotiations in protest against hostile statements by Iranian officials against the country.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Bahrain "strongly denounced the repeated blatant Iranian interference in Bahrain's internal affairs in order to shake up the kingdom's stability and fan tension".
Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee had a short time before the announcement of the envoy's recall demanded an extraordinary Arab summit to discuss "Iranian interference".
Last Sunday, Bahrain summoned Iran's acting charge d'affaires to protest against the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ali Khamenei voicing support for "oppressed people" across the Middle East, including in Bahrain.
The previous day, Khamenei had said the nuclear deal Tehran agreed with world powers would not alter its support for the governments of Syria and Iraq, nor its backing for "oppressed people" in Yemen and Bahrain, and the Palestinians.
Bahrain often accuses Iran of seeking to subvert Bahrain.
Iran denies interfering in Bahrain, although it acknowledges it does support opposition groups seeking greater political and economic rights for Bahrain's Shia community.