Bahrain says Iran-run social media accounts behind threats to poll candidates

Bahrain has said that social media accounts managed in Iran by the political groups operating outside Bahrain, including the dissolved Al Wefaq Society, are responsible for threats to electoral candidates in the country.

The director-general of the Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security department said that they had monitored and followed up the complaints by some candidates who claimed to have received threats on social media asking them to withdraw their candidature.

He said that an investigation showed that those social media accounts were managed in Iran and were aimed at “disrupting the election process”, the official Bahrain News Agency reported.

Also read: Bahrain investigating ‘threat’ message to municipal candidate

Bahrain is set to hold municipal elections on November 24 – the fifth elections to be held since the country reactivated democracy.

The official urged citizens to report any such cases to protect the elections from any “foreign interference”, the report added.

The communicated information will be kept confidential, it said.

Bahrain suspended the main Shi’ite opposition group al-Wefaq in 2016, and closed down its offices in the country for working “within a political, religious and foreign framework”.

Read more: Bahrain court suspends main opposition group