US designates Bahrain-based group as Specially Designated Global Terrorist

The United States designated on Tuesday the Iranian-backed and Bahrain-based Saraya al-Mukhtar group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the group is “reportedly receiving financial and logistic support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”

He added that Saraya al-Mukhtar’s “self-described goal is to depose the Bahraini government with the intention of paving the way for Iran to exert greater influence in Bahrain. The group has plotted attacks against U.S. personnel in Bahrain and has offered cash rewards for the assassination of Bahraini officials.”

As a result of the designation, said Pompeo, “all of the group’s property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or hereafter come within the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with it.”