Bahrain cracks down on dissent as war grinds on

Bahrain is cracking down on dissent as it struggles with the political and economic impacts of the war.

On Monday, several people were arrested on charges of spying for Iran, adding to more than 200 detained since the conflict began, according to the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. At least one man, Mohamed Almosawi, has died in custody. Rights groups said his corpse showed signs consistent with torture; the government dismissed the allegations as “misleading.”

The government is wary of protests, haunted by memories of the 2011 Arab Spring pro-democracy movement and historic enmity with Iran tracing back to the kingdom’s founding and Tehran sponsoring a failed coup in Manama in 1981.

Bahrain has intercepted more than 650 Iranian missiles and drones since the start of the war on Feb. 28. Unlike its Gulf peers, the kingdom can’t afford the economic consequences: This week, Capital Intelligence Ratings lowered the country’s credit rating one notch, and expects the budget deficit to spike this year because of the cost of repairing damaged infrastructure.