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Source: https://thearabweekly.com/war-iran-opening-old-wounds
The War with Iran Is Opening Old Wounds
(Arab Weekly) Simon Mabon - In recent years, sectarian tensions in the Middle East have largely been put to one side, aided by the 2023 Saudi-Iran normalization agreement that restored diplomatic relations, which had been severed after the execution of the Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr in 2016. In April, 69 Bahrainis had their citizenship revoked for what Manama's interior ministry referred to as 'glorifying or sympathizing with hostile Iranian acts, or engaging in contacts with external parties.' In Kuwait, thousands of individuals also had their citizenship revoked for social media posts. In the UAE, an 'Iran-linked' terror plot was dismantled by state security forces who, on Arabic news channels, referred to it as a Shia plot. Increasingly, the Gulf's Shia populations are being forced to choose between membership in their sect and their nationality. Simon Mabon is the author of Schism: The Story of Sectarianism in the Modern Middle East (Yale University). He is a professor of international politics at Lancaster University.