Senior Cleric Blames US for Crimes against People in Bahrain http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8912270548

Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati condemned the brutal suppression of protesters in Bahrain, and blamed massacre of the people in the tiny Persian Gulf island on Washington and its support for suppressors. "The US on the one hand urges for exercising restraint and on the other hand, with its uncalled for meddling, paves the way for regional rulers to commit their crimes," Ayatollah Jannati stated, addressing a large congregation gathered at Tehran University campus for the weekly prayers. "[In] this country where the absolute majority is Shiite-- and for the very charge of being Shiites their rights have been violated for years -- they (Bahrainis) realized they could revolt like in other Muslim countries," Ayatollah Jannati stated. 

"When their unpopular government realized they would lose, they turned to Saudi Arabia to crack down on people and they (Saudis) dispatch armies," the cleric pointed out. Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 1,000 troops, reportedly as part of its so-called Peninsula Shield Force to the crisis-hit Bahrain at the request of Manama. Ayatollah Jannati highlighted the peaceful nature of the protests in Bahrain, and added, "No international law allows such military deployments to repress the people of other countries." Ayatollah Jannati further addressed the violent crackdown on Libyans by Muammar Qaddafi loyalists. "These people tolerated such a crazy man for years until they ran out of patience and revolted…Qaddafi, like the Zionist regime [of Israel] which [targets] Palestinians, targeted his own people," he concluded.