Iran has censured Bahrain for suspending the activities of the Arab country's main Shia opposition group, saying such moves will further complicate the conflict in the tiny Persian Gulf state, Press TV reported.
On Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari accused the Manama regime of "confronting peaceful public protests by intensifying security measures, jailing moderate [political] leaders and human rights activists and shutting down the offices of peaceful political and social associations."
Such an approach by the Bahraini government will "complicate the domestic crisis in the country," Jaberi Ansari added.
He further expressed hope that the Al Khalifah regime would pave the way for restoration of peace and stability to the island country by taking confidence-building measures and initiating serious negotiations between the Manama government and the opposition.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Bahraini Justice Ministry announced that the kingdom had suspended all activities of al-Wefaq National Islamic Society and frozen its assets. The Bahraini ministry accused the country's main opposition group of promoting tension and extremism.
Manama also dissolved two other opposition groups, namely al-Tawiya and al-Risala Islamic associations.
Officials in al-Wefaq denounced the suspension as illegal and called on the international community to take action in the face of the Bahraini regime's suppression of dissident.
Al-Wefaq's Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman has been in prison since December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers, which he has denied.