How Was Bahrain Separated from Iran?

WANA (Dec 21) – In 1968, during a visit to India, the Shah of Iran gave an interview that later became the basis for actions by Britain and the United Nations—actions that played a significant role in separating Bahrain from Iran. In the end, everything came down to negotiations.

In 1787, Sadeq Khan Zand (the ruling Shah of Iran at the time) was in Shiraz, waiting for good news from the battlefield in the Persian Gulf. After eight years of civil war inside Iran, he believed that victory in Bahrain and the return of this detached province to Iran would allow him to teach a decisive lesson to his uncles and cousins and reassert the power of the Zand dynasty. The latest reports said his warships had anchored near Hawar Island. Suddenly, however, shocking news arrived: Agha Mohammad Khan (the founder and first Shah of the Qajar dynasty, who would later overthrow the Zands) was marching toward Shiraz—while Sadeq Khan had already sent half of his army toward Bahrain.

Let us go back eight years, to 1779, when Karim Khan Zand died. After his death, his relatives launched a major struggle to seize the throne of Iran. On one side stood Sadeq Khan; on the other, Lotf Ali Khan; elsewhere, various commanders, generals, uncles, and cousins of Karim Khan fought one another for control of the country. In cities such as Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kerman, Tabriz, and Bushehr, hundreds of thousands were killed.

Amid all this chaos—something the adventurers of the civil war largely ignored—was Bahrain. Just four years after Karim Khan’s death, in Qatar, a group of Arab tribes led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Al Khalifa were nurturing dreams of conquering Bahrain.

Bahrain was the southernmost territory of Iran in the Persian Gulf and had historically always belonged to Iran. Although it had been separated from Iran several times, it had repeatedly been reconquered—most recently by Nader Shah Afshar—and reintegrated into Iran’s administrative divisions.

Iran & Bahrain

If Sheikh Mohammed bin Al Khalifa’s dream were realized, Bahrain could be separated from Iran for many years. The plan he had devised years earlier was finally put into action in 1783. He sent 2,500 warriors aboard 70 large sailing ships equipped with cannons toward Bahrain, where Sheikh Nasr Al-Madhkur, the last governor appointed by Iran, was ruling.

Sheikh Nasr was a Shiite Iranian sheikh appointed by Karim Khan Zand. He paid substantial tribute to the Zand government—reportedly up to 10,000 tomans, or the equivalent in pearls, sent to the Zand court. Since pearl trading had a long history among the Arabs of the southern Persian Gulf coast, Sheikh Nasr sometimes attacked and looted pearl-trading ships—mostly belonging to the Al Khalifa—to secure the tribute. These attacks and raids prompted the Al Khalifa to contemplate seizing Bahrain, a plan that was eventually carried out. In 1783, Bahrain was occupied by the Al Khalifa.

The battle for Bahrain did not last long. Sheikh Nasr could not withstand the massive Al Khalifa fleet, which was supported by the British and the Dutch. After a brief resistance, he was seriously wounded and, following a defeat that was hardly unexpected, fled to Bushehr.

The news reached Sadeq Khan Zand, Lotf Ali Khan, and other parties involved in Iran’s civil war. However, conditions among them were so dire that none could address the Bahrain issue. Each likely believed that once victorious and in control of Iran, Bahrain could later be reclaimed.

Sheikh Nasr, however, placed little faith in such hopes. He launched several small attempts to retake Bahrain, but all ended in heavy defeats. Bahrain remained in Al Khalifa hands until the day Sadeq Khan once again managed to take control of Shiraz.

Sadeq Khan believed he could now teach a lesson to the other claimants to Iran’s throne and thought that reclaiming Bahrain would send them a clear message. Yet a major obstacle remained: after Nader Shah’s death in 1747 and the collapse of Iran’s navy, that naval power had never been revived, even during Karim Khan’s rule.

Sadeq Khan decided to send whatever ships he had to reclaim Bahrain. He prepared 12 large vessels, embarked 1,500 soldiers, and placed them under the command of Mirza Mehdi Beg, the governor of Bandar Abbas.

The fleet first stopped at Qeshm to gather supplies and prepare for battle, then sailed to Hawar Island and anchored near Bahrain. At that very moment, news arrived of Agha Mohammad Khan’s advance. Everything in Shiraz was changing.

This news also reached the sailors, many of whom had not been paid for months, sparking a mutiny. Ship commanders asked Mirza Mehdi Beg to return to Bandar Abbas, fearing that if Sadeq Khan fell and Shiraz was taken by Agha Mohammad Khan, they would lose all support. Eventually, they retreated—but faced Sadeq Khan’s fury. Some were blinded; others were executed.

When the Al Khalifa learned that the Iranian ships had been forced to turn back without firing a single cannon shot, they held a grand celebration and named the day “The Flight of the Iranian Fleet Without a Fight.” This retreat had serious consequences. Until then, the Al Khalifa had paid some form of tribute to the Zand rulers to deter an Iranian attack. After this episode, they decided to stop paying any tribute to Iran altogether.

Eventually, Agha Mohammad Khan captured Shiraz, ended Zand rule, and crowned himself Shah in 1796. Around that time, he decided to send a threatening letter to Sheikh Ahmad Al Khalifa, warning that if tribute were not paid, Iran would attack Bahrain. Sheikh Ahmad paid tribute several times, but after a certain incident, decided to stop altogether.

By then, nearly 15 years had passed since the Al Khalifa began ruling Bahrain. They had minted their own coins and developed regional maritime trade without Iranian involvement. This was deeply displeasing to Iranians, but there was little they could do.

Bahrain and Iran. Social Media / WANA News Agency

After Al Khalifa rule was consolidated—especially with British support—restoring conditions to the pre–Karim Khan era became extremely difficult. In 1798, the British East India Company decided to turn Bahrain into a strategic base to combat piracy in the Persian Gulf, effectively discouraging the Al Khalifa from paying tribute to Iran.

Agha Mohammad Khan made several attempts to send naval forces toward Bahrain, but each time the powerful British fleet suddenly appeared in the region. On one occasion, when an attack was planned from Bushehr, the British fleet anchored there, forcing the Iranians to abandon the operation. Nevertheless, Iran never relinquished its claim and consistently declared that Bahrain was Iranian territory under Al Khalifa occupation.

The situation became more complicated in 1820, when Britain signed maritime treaties with the sheikhs of Bahrain, effectively placing the island under British protection. Later, in 1861, supplementary treaties turned Bahrain into an informal British colony. Despite this, Iran continued to uphold its claim.

After Reza Shah Pahlavi came to power, Iran repeatedly asked Britain to return Bahrain—requests that were largely ignored. This continued until 1960, when Britain announced its intention to withdraw from the Persian Gulf and east of Suez by 1971.

At that time, Iran was ruled by Mohammad Reza Shah. He feared that Britain, by forming Arab federations, would permanently separate Bahrain from Iran and push it toward full independence. For this reason, he repeatedly emphasized that Bahrain was part of Iran and would not be separated.

Bahrain was not the Shah’s only concern. Rumors about the separation of the three islands—Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa—intensified the crisis, especially at a time when Iran had good relations with the West and was on the verge of acquiring advanced military equipment.

For this reason, during his 1968 visit to India, the Shah gave an interview that became the basis for British and UN actions that were instrumental in Bahrain’s separation from Iran. In that interview, he said: “Bahrain is part of Iranian territory—unless the people of Bahrain themselves do not wish to belong to Iran.”

He believed that Bahrain had not been under Iranian rule for more than 180 years and that investing resources to reclaim it was not worthwhile—perhaps explaining why he made those remarks in India.

Before withdrawing from the Persian Gulf, Britain referred the Bahrain issue to the United Nations. In 1971, a UN fact-finding mission entered Bahrain and interviewed various groups, including sheikhs, merchants, Shiite and Sunni clerics, local residents, and especially women. After completing its work, the mission submitted a report to the UN Secretary-General stating that the people of Bahrain did not wish to join Iran. Iran regarded this report as an “informal opinion survey,” not a referendum.

Iran’s sovereignty over the three islands. Social Media / WANA News Agency

Ultimately, everything came down to negotiations. In 1971, Britain, Iran, and the Arab sheikhs of the Al Khalifa—whose ruler at the time was Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa—sat at the negotiating table to decide Bahrain’s fate.

It was agreed that in exchange for Iran’s sovereignty over the three islands being secured, Bahrain would gain independence. The Shah was also concerned about the growing Arab population in Iran, noting that three million Arabs already lived in the country and that he did not want another 400,000 added. For this reason, he kept the three islands and relinquished Bahrain.

On August 14, 1971, Bahrain officially declared its independence. One day later, on August 15, Iran recognized it. A few days afterward, Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League.

The three islands, however, were not secured so easily. At the same time Britain was leaving the region, Iran—fearing actions by the sheikhdoms of the future UAE—dispatched its fleet to the islands and raised the Iranian flag over them.