MANAMA — Bahrain said on Thursday it arrested four Bahrainis for allegedly spying for Iran, the Bahrain News Agency reported. It said a fifth person has been identified, but remains at large. The Interior Ministry accused all five of having “used high-resolution photography equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital and important locations” on behalf of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Bahrain’s General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science identified the four detainees as Murtadha Hussain Awal, 25; Ahmed Isa Al Haiki, 34; Sarah Abdulnabi Marhoon, 36; and Elias Salman Mirza, 22. The fifth suspect, Ali Mohammed Hassan Al Shaikh, 25, remains abroad. Investigators said Murtadha Hussain and his accomplices, acting on IRGC instructions, used high-resolution equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital locations in Bahrain, transmitting the data to the IRGC via encrypted software. The ministry alleged that material had been sent to the Guard using encrypted software, likely to be attacked in Tehran’s indiscriminate attacks across the region. The arrests come as Iran escalates attacks across the Gulf. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued an advisory urging residents in Hidd, Arad, Qalali and Samaheej to stay indoors and seal windows against smoke from fires sparked by Iranian strikes. Fuel tanks at a facility in Muharraq Governorate, northeast of Manama, were among the targets. — AgenciesMANAMA — Bahrain said on Thursday it arrested four Bahrainis for allegedly spying for Iran, the Bahrain News Agency reported. It said a fifth person has been identified, but remains at large. The Interior Ministry accused all five of having “used high-resolution photography equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital and important locations” on behalf of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Bahrain’s General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science identified the four detainees as Murtadha Hussain Awal, 25; Ahmed Isa Al Haiki, 34; Sarah Abdulnabi Marhoon, 36; and Elias Salman Mirza, 22. The fifth suspect, Ali Mohammed Hassan Al Shaikh, 25, remains abroad. Investigators said Murtadha Hussain and his accomplices, acting on IRGC instructions, used high-resolution equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital locations in Bahrain, transmitting the data to the IRGC via encrypted software. The ministry alleged that material had been sent to the Guard using encrypted software, likely to be attacked in Tehran’s indiscriminate attacks across the region. The arrests come as Iran escalates attacks across the Gulf. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued an advisory urging residents in Hidd, Arad, Qalali and Samaheej to stay indoors and seal windows against smoke from fires sparked by Iranian strikes. Fuel tanks at a facility in Muharraq Governorate, northeast of Manama, were among the targets. — Agencies
