A Bahraini criminal court sentenced nine defendants to life in prison on May 24, 2026, and gave two others three-year terms. All 11 were convicted over links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The head of the Terror Crimes Prosecution said the charge was “communicating with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with the intent to carry out hostile and terrorist acts against the kingdom,” according to Gulf News. Bahrain’s state news agency, quoted by Arab News, said the defendants had been “gathering information on sensitive sites and facilitating related financial transfers.”
Two cases, one accusation
Gulf News described two separate cases. In the first, prosecutors alleged that suspects recruited people inside Bahrain to watch and photograph sensitive facilities. A fugitive defendant was accused of coordinating money transfers through bank accounts and cryptocurrency to support operations tied to the Guard. In the second, authorities said another suspect, also at large, organized locals to collect intelligence on strategic infrastructure.
The prosecution built its case on forensic examination of electronic devices and on witness statements, Gulf News reported. It added that every defendant had legal representation during the proceedings. The court also ordered the confiscation of items seized in the investigations.
After the May 9 arrests
Arab News linked the verdicts to a wider crackdown. On May 9, Bahrain’s interior ministry arrested 41 people it tied to the Guard. The prosecutions also took in cases of sympathy with Iranian attacks launched after the US and Israel began military action against Iran on February 28, 2026.
The prosecution did not name the nine men in the reports.
Sources
- Bahrain Court Sentences Nine to Life for Alleged Iran IRGC Links and Terror Plotting (Gulf News)
- Bahrain court jails nine for life for collaborating with Iran's Revolutionary Guards (Arab News)
