US vice president voices concerns over ‘negative developments’ in Bahrain

US Vice President Joe Biden has expressed "strong concerns" over the Bahraini regime's intensified crackdown on dissent.

According to Press TV quoting a statement released by the White House on Friday, Biden voiced “strong concerns regarding recent negative developments in Bahrain” during a phone conversation with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Ale Khalifah on Thursday.

Biden also “emphasized the importance of reducing ongoing tensions through dialogue and reconciliation with the opposition, and a commitment to reform,” the statement added.

On June 14, Manama suspended the country’s main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. The United Nations, along with other international organizations, expressed concern, saying the move could escalate the situation in the country.

The group’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. A court sentenced him to four years in prison in June 2015.

The kingdom also dissolved two other opposition groups, namely the al-Tawiya and al-Risala Islamic associations.

On June 20, the Ale Khalifah regime also revoked the citizenship of Bahrain’s leading Shia cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim, with the Interior Ministry accusing him of seeking the “creation of a sectarian environment” through his connections with foreign powers. The ruling, however, drew widespread condemnation at domestic and international levels.

ME