Iran Hackers Blamed For Hacking Bahrain Government Website

Bahrain authorities said that Iranian hackers hit a government website in early May. However, they failed to carry out this criminal act. Authorities have fended off cyber attacks on websites belonging to the Interior Ministry and Bahrain News Agency, a senior official told the GDN yesterday on condition of anonymity.

"We have tracked down some of the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and found they were linked with Iran and some even with the outlawed group Hezbollah," said an official from the Information Affairs Authority's (IAA) Publications and Press Directorate.

Hackers, believed to have ties to Iran, placed an image of a hand covered in blood, a corpse and a soldier moving away with a U.S. flag in back of it. The image was surrounded by anti-government messages.

According to the government Bahrain News Agency, Iranian computer hackers tried to access the official website of the Housing Ministry in attempts to seek data on aid recipients. Housing officials also confirmed that the security breach of its website had not resulted in the theft of any personal information of housing applicants.

But the report from the Bahrain News Agency gave no other details, although the alleged hacking could be linked to Shiite allegations that a disproportionate share of housing aid goes to Sunnis. The island kingdom's Sunni rulers are facing an uprising by the country's Shiite majority, which is calling for greater rights. Throughout the turmoil, they have accused Shiite-powered Iran of interfering in their affairs. Bahrain and its Gulf Arab allies claim Iran is seeking to gain advantage from the unrest in the region.

To retaliate, the Bahrain Chamber for Commerce and Industry called for a countrywide boycott of all Iranian goods and services because of blatant interference in Bahrains domestic affairs and threats to the kingdoms national security. The chamber also appealed for other nations in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council to join the proposed embargo.

It will be great support for the GCC countries as they deal with the relentless onslaught from Iran to divide their societies and spread sedition, discord and divisions, the chamber said in a statement carried by the Bahrain News Agency. The GCC includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran is not among Bahrain's leading trading partners, but there have been efforts to expand business contacts through joint ventures such as tourism and agriculture. Last year, Iran said it hoped to boost two-way trade with Bahrain to more than $5 billion a year.

The Shiite-led uprising in Bahrain seeking a constitutional monarchy has caused a fault line in the region, and it has exacerbated as the UAE and Saudi forces stationed in the Gulf country in a move seen by Shiite-dominated governmentssuch as Iraq and Iranas violation of Bahrains sovereignty.

The boycott call comes less than a week after Bahrain ordered the expulsion of an Iranian diplomat from the strategic nation, which is home to the US Navys Fifth Fleet.

The turmoil -- the most serious in the Gulf since the Arab uprisings began -- also forced the cancellation in March of Formula One's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in a huge blow to the economy. A statement Saturday by Zayed Rashid Alzayani, chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit, expressed hope that the race can be rescheduled for later this year.

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