Bahraini ministry: no casualties at blast near British embassy in Manama

A bomb placed under a vehicle exploded near the British embassy in Bahrain’s capital Manama early on Sunday, but caused no casualties, the Gulf Arab state’s Interior Ministry said.

“Given the strength of the explosion and the debris it scattered, it was a highly explosive substance that was used,” a ministry spokesman said in comments on Twitter posted live from a news conference.

“The explosion was the result of a package placed under the front tyre,” he said, adding there were no casualties. He described the vehicle as a minibus parked some 50 meters (yards) from the embassy compound.

According to the spokesman, five other cars parked in the area were also damaged but there were no casualties.

“Security services are present in the area to take the needed legal measures,” he said, adding security was boosted around embassies.

In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said British authorities were in contact with the interior ministry in Bahrain.

“We are aware of a small blast in a vehicle near the British embassy,” she told AFP. “Police and fire service attended the scene. There were no casualties or damage to the embassy.

She declined to speculate on the cause of the blast. “We are liaising with the ministry of interior,” she said.

Bahrain-Iran connection?

A diplomatic crisis between Iran and Britain deepened last week after youths stormed the British embassy in Tehran in protest against banking sanctions Britain imposed over Iran's nuclear energy program.

In retaliation, London withdrew its diplomats from Tehran and expelled Iranian diplomats from Britain, and other European countries withdraw envoys from Tehran in support of Britain. Iran denies that its nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

The Sunni-ruled Bahrain was rocked by Shiite-led pro-democracy protests between mid-February and mid-March. It accuses Shiite-dominated Iran of backing unrest in the kingdom, a charge denied by Tehran and the opposition.

The government also said that the protests had sectarian motives and were fomented by Shi’ite power Iran.

But a government-sponsored fact-finding commission headed by international rights lawyers said last month there was no evidence of Iranian interference but Bahrain said there was incitement by Iranian media.

Meanwhile, Dubai-based defence and security analyst, Theodore Karasik, told Reuters that the blast could be the start of an escalation in the social conflict in Bahrain, where there are still almost daily clashes between Shi'ite protesters and riot police.

Shi'ites are marking the religious mourning rites of Ashura this week, commemorating the death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein.

“The timing is significant because it occurred during Ashura,” Karasik said. “What we might be seeing now is a cell or two that are being set up by disgruntled Bahraini Shi'ites who now use bombs to achieve their goals. It's a jump to a new level.”