Bahrain said on Friday it is following the developments in Iraq and called for de-escalation after a U.S. air strike, according to the state news agency.

The Al-Wefaq Islamic National Society condemned the blatant barbaric American attack on two Muslim countries, the Republic of Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry indicated that there are social media outlets managed from outside the country that aim at destabilizing peace and stability in Bahrain.

In July 2018, the Bahraini authorities allowed the spiritual leader of the Shia majority in Bahrain, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, to leave the country to receive treatment, thus Sheikh Isa traveled to the British capital, London.

The Iraqi Popular Mobilization announced on (January 2, 2020) the martyrdom of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC-Quds Force, and Abu-Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Popular Mobilization Forces, in an air strike targeting their vehicle near Baghdad International Airport.

ames LaPorta, correspondent for Newsweek, said on Friday (January 3, 2020) that two Defense Department sources told him that patriot batteries are active in Bahrain, which hosts the US fifth fleet, for alert posture.

Bahrain has appointed the head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council as the country’s next foreign minister, state media reported Thursday.

Bahrain appointed Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani as the kingdom’s next foreign minister, state news agency (BNA) reported on Thursday, citing a decision by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa dismissed on Thursday (January 2, 2020) Bahraini Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, from his post and appointed former Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.

The country witnessed a whirlpool after Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman visited Ayatollah Sayed Al-Ghuraifi in his home on May 1st. Al-Ghuraifi hoped during the visit that there will be political determination to reform the current situation in Bahrain.

The Cassation Court upheld a 6-month prison term against former Secretary-General of Wa'ad Ibrahim Shairf with the suspension of verdict to 3 years over charge of insulting the ousted Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir.

The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society condemned "the sinful attack on Iraq's sovereignty and the killing of its official security forces members."

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed support for the strikes conducted by the United States of America, which targeted the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.

Bahrain's public debt has set a new record surpassing the 13 billion dinar ceiling, despite a Gulf-backed structural plan which aims at achieving a balance between revenues and expenses.

2018 ended with former Bahrain national football team player Hakeem Al-Araibi still held in a Thai prison, awaiting a final decision from the judiciary regarding his extradition to Manama, despite the fact that he entered Thailand having refugee status in Australia.

Bahrain Mirror (2019 Roundup): Three martyrs passed away in 2019, two of whom were killed by gunfire and the third died due to inhaling tear gas while taking part in a protest against the execution of two death sentences. The attorney-general announced in a statement on July 27, 2019 that the authorities executed two individuals, Ali Al-Arab (25 years old) and Ahmad Al-Malali (23 years old), after being convicted in an alleged charge of aiding detainees escape from Jaw Prison on January 1, 2017 and killing officer Hisham Al-Hammadi on January 29, 2017.

The targeting of detainee Mohammad Fakhrawi in Jaw prison is increasing every day amid suspicious silence of the competent authorities. The prison administration isolated him in building 2 with nearly 700 prisoners, all of whom convicted in drug-related cases, put him in a contaminated place, and are now depriving him of contacting his family.

The High Criminal Appeals Court adjourned, for the second time in row, the ruling in case of death convicts Hussein Mousa and Mohammad Ramadan until January 8, 2020.

Forensic physician Allen Keller appealed the king not to sentence Hussein Mousa and Mohammad Ramadan to death.

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued decree 101/2019 on December 15, 2019, remitting the remainder of prison sentences imposed on convicts in some cases.