Manama – The US base in Bahrain was among the targets of a terror cell linked to Iran that was plotting attacks against Bahrain’s security and stability.

“The terrorist cell was trained to target important figures and high-ranking officials, bomb a security convoy and attack the US base in Bahrain,” Bahraini Interior Ministry Undersecretary Major-General Tariq Al-Hassan told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday.

Al-Hassan said the cell had started to monitor the US base and closely document the movements of soldiers and vehicles.

“The US side is informed about the plan,” the general said.

On Sunday, Bahrain said it had dismantled an Iranian-linked “terrorist cell” suspected of involvement in a bomb attack on a police bus on February 26 and plotting to assassinate senior officials.

Al-Hassan said that contact between the terrorist cell and its leaders in Iran was conducted through specific applications using encrypted messages on social media networks.

“Members of the terrorist cell made 66 visits to Iran,” he said.

The Bahraini official also said that the cell works under the supervision and leadership of Bahraini terrorist members currently present in Iran, and that its members move freely between Iran and Iraq. He added that those members have strong ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

“Members of the terrorist cell use religious cover in their visits to transfer information and messages, in addition to recruiting new members or leaders of the cell,” Al-Hassan said.

On Sunday, the Bahraini Interior Ministry said that 14 individuals had been arrested, 11 of whom are suspected of receiving overseas military training under the supervision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah in Iraq.

Investigations into the bomb attack on the police bus last February also revealed that members of the cell were recruited by fugitive leaders of the terrorist Al-Ashtar Brigades living abroad, and were part of their ongoing terror activities in Bahrain.