Sunni-ruled Bahrain, which has a large Shia population and houses a major US military base, was hard-hit by Iranian attacks on the Gulf, launched in response to US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.

“In accordance with previous investigations carried out by the prosecutor’s office in cases of espionage on behalf of foreign entities and sympathy for Iranian aggression, the security services dismantled an organisation linked to the Revolutionary Guards,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to Iran’s ideological army.

The ministry added that 41 people had been arrested.

Human rights activist Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei said earlier on X that authorities had carried out “arrests against some of the country’s most prominent Shia religious figures”.

“This move is unprecedented and has not occurred on this scale even during the peak of the 2011 repression,” said Alwadaei of London-based NGO Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).

In 2011, protests demanding an elected government rocked the Gulf nation, sparking a crackdown on dissent.

The ruling family accused Tehran of having trained and supported the demonstrators in order to overthrow it, which the Islamic Republic denied.

Since the Middle East war began, Bahrain has cracked down on those expressing support or sympathy for Tehran.

Human Rights Watch said in March that dozens had been arrested.

Last month, the kingdom stripped 69 people of citizenship for expressing support for Tehran, and on Thursday its parliament expelled three MPs who opposed a royal decree on citizenship cases.