Bahraini activist tortured to death in detention over opposition to US-Israeli war on Iran

MAR 27, 2026

The Gulf state hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and has supported Washington’s war on Iran

Bahraini police released the body of Mohammad al-Mousawi to his family on 27 March, days after detaining him at a checkpoint and torturing him to death for opposing the US-Israeli war on Iran.

A graphic video circulated online of Mousawi’s corpse at the local morgue, showing signs of torture all over his face, legs, arms, and feet.

According to Maryam al-Khawaja, a Bahraini-Danish Human Rights Defender, Mousawi previously spent 12 years in prison. He was released in 2024 but was arrested a few days ago at a checkpoint.


Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society wrote on X that Mousawi was detained and brutally tortured to death on false allegations that he was linked to secret Iranian cells.

“The Bahraini regime has resorted to killing the Bahraini citizen Sayed Muhammad Mohsen al-Mousawi from Muharraq Governorate, days after his arrest, as a result of the brutal, deadly torture practiced by the Bahraini regime against the innocent, with the aim of framing them in fabricated cells and organizations,” wrote Al-Wefaq.

“After days of no news of him, Sayyid Muhammad was handed over as a lifeless, mutilated corpse, torn apart by the brutal torture tools at the hands of the Bahraini regime, represented by the notorious Ministry of Interior, known for committing crimes against humanity over the past years,” Al-Wefaq added.

Read also:
The Secret History of the Push to Strike Iran

Bahraini authorities have reportedly arrested hundreds of people since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, including women and children, and have subjected them to torture and defamatory media campaigns.

Al-Wefaq, a Bahraini Shia political party, was banned by authorities in 2011. Between 2006 and 2011, it was the single largest party in the Bahraini legislature, with 18 representatives in the 40-member parliament.

Bahrain has a majority Shia population but is governed by a constitutional monarchy led by a Sunni royal family, the Khalifa family, which enjoys strong support from Saudi Arabia.

In 2011, large-scale protests erupted against the Bahraini ruling family amid the broader Arab Spring. The Saudi military sent tanks to the island nation to help the ruling family crush the protests.

Bahrain hosts the largest US Navy base in the Gulf region and has allowed US forces to launch attacks on Iran from its territory since the start of the war on 28 February.

Iran has launched retaliatory attacks on US bases in Bahrain, as well as on the country’s oil infrastructure.

According to reports, Iranian strikes against Bahraini-based targets began on the first day of the war, on 28 February.

By early March, roughly 70 to 75 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones had reportedly been launched. Bahraini authorities stated that most incoming projectiles were intercepted.

Targets included facilities linked to the US Fifth Fleet, Bahraini and US military infrastructure, the BAPCO refinery complex in Ma’amir, and sites in Manama associated with US personnel. Installations near Bahrain International Airport and a major desalination plant – the Abu Jarjour facility – were also reportedly struck.

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