Kayhan newspaper urges “immediate return” of Bahrain to Iran

A senior hardline Iranian commentator has called for the “immediate return” of Bahrain to Iran, reviving long-standing territorial claims over the Gulf island state and urging official steps to pursue what he described as a legal process.

Hossein Shariatmadari, who represents the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, questioned Bahrain’s separation from Iran in an editorial and suggested its current status remained contestable, Caliber.Az reports.

“Is there any doubt that Bahrain is still part of Iranian territory? If there is no doubt — and there is none — why is no action being taken to reclaim it?” he wrote on X.

حسین شریعتمداری، نماینده رهبر جمهوری اسلامی در روزنامه کیهان، در یادداشتی با اشاره به جدایی بحرین از ایران، خواستار اقدام جمهوری اسلامی برای بازپس‌گیری فوری این کشور شد.

او نوشت: «آیا در این واقعیت که بحرین کماکان بخشی از سرزمین ایران است، کمترین تردیدی هست؟ اگر تردیدی نیست که… pic.twitter.com/w6ipO46RK3

— ايران اينترنشنال (@IranIntl) May 14, 2026

He added that it was “expected and appropriate” for the Islamic Republic to put in motion a “legal mechanism for the return of Bahrain” as a matter of urgency.

Shariatmadari also criticised the presence of foreign military forces in the country, asking why, in his view, “a part of Islamic Iran’s territory” should be used as a base for the United States and Israel.

Bahrain became independent in 1971 following a UN-backed process that established its separation from Iran, a status that has been internationally recognised since then.