In this episode we focus on Bahrain. Recorded in the country’s capital, Manama, Daniel J. Levy speaks with Dr Ahmed Al Khuzaie about Bahrain’s strategic outlook, its place within the Gulf, and the regional impact of Iran’s behaviour. Drawing on Bahrain’s history, its role within the GCC, and its decision to join the Abraham Accords, the conversation examines the evolution of Bahrain–Israel relations, and how Gulf states view protests inside Iran.
Dr Ahmed Al Khuzaie is a political consultant working predominantly with politicians in the United States and with diplomats based in Bahrain. His work focuses on Gulf affairs, regional security, and public diplomacy, with particular emphasis on Iranian influence, the GCC, and the Abraham Accords framework.
Transcript
(This transcript has been automatically generated by AI — please excuse any potential errors.)
00:00:07:00 – 00:00:07:11
Daniel J. Levy
Hello.
00:00:07:15 – 00:00:36:03
Daniel J. Levy
Today is 22nd of January 2026. And this is Daniel Jay Levy, programs manager at BICOM, the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre. Think. Today we are in Manama, capital of Bahrain, for an Abraham Accords special edition with Doctor Ahmed Al Khuzaie. Doctor Khuzaie is a political consultant working predominantly with politicians in the US and also diplomats in Manama to raise awareness of Bahrain and the UAE.
00:00:36:05 – 00:00:46:03
Daniel J. Levy
We are going to be mostly focusing on Iran and its impact on the Gulf. But before we begin, doctor, is there anything more to say about yourself you’d like to add?
00:00:46:05 – 00:00:49:07
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
No, you said it perfectly, actually. I mean, there’s nothing more to add.
00:00:49:09 – 00:01:00:07
Daniel J. Levy
Fantastic. So just some context for our listeners before we sort of dive into the real meat, maybe tell me a little bit about Bahrain, its position in the Middle East and its foreign policy.
00:01:00:09 – 00:01:30:18
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Well, historically, Bahrain is one of the older civilizations on this planet, dating back to the days of, supporting, and, the days of MKI and Enlil, the Sumerian gods, and going further till today, Bahrain as an island, had a long still have basically a long history. When it comes to, trading and merchants and people always.
00:01:30:20 – 00:02:16:13
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
And that’s the case with every island. People do come and go the whole time. So, our civilization is rich, we are welcoming and, we have our own history as well. I mean, the one that is part of the region and the one that is separate from it. Coming to that, we, as in Bahrain, have long lost, what can I say, dispute with the Iranians that ended in 71 when the United Nations ran, a vote basically for the, settlers of Bahrain to decide whether they want to be either under Iran’s reign or, independently, Arab nation, and that the latter basically became what it is, until the Islamic
00:02:16:13 – 00:02:44:05
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
revolution happened. Then they retracted that, although the previous Shah basically, agreed to that. And he was the first person to call the leadership of Bahrain and congratulate them. When the mullahs came in, they said, no, and we are still considering Bahrain as our 14th state. Yet they started planting proxies just like they did with Yemen, with Iraq, with Syria, and with Lebanon amongst other nations.
00:02:44:05 – 00:03:13:24
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Of course, today, Bahrain is one of the first countries to join the Abraham Accords, along with Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, which is dormant. But since we joined, we are seeking a different and a better future for Bahrain, for the Gulf and for the whole region as well. It’s not an easy thing to achieve, especially with the Iranian aggression going around and everybody sees exactly what’s happening in Iran.
00:03:14:02 – 00:03:26:15
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
The aggression was not just, outbound, it’s now domestic in Iran. And that’s exactly part of the discussion. We were going to, go further and into today.
00:03:26:15 – 00:03:37:13
Daniel J. Levy
So fantastic. And then maybe sort of looking at Bahrain within the Gulf, where does Bahrain sit in the political constellation of the GCC, particularly between Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE?
00:03:37:19 – 00:04:13:06
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
We’ll have to understand what the GCC stands for. Yes, I know, it is the Gulf Cooperation Council that being inside will have to understand that the council was established right after the Islamic revolution in Iran, which explains exactly what our neighbour across the pond is, posing as a threat to us. That’s number one. Number two, the framework of the GCC is not similar or is not an exact, example of how the European Union is.
00:04:13:08 – 00:04:43:12
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
It’s a bit different. So, as a framework, yes, we do work together, but not everybody stands on the same foot when it comes to different issues. For example, how to treat or how to go about the Palestinian issue. Every country in the Gulf is supporting the Palestinian issue, yet everybody does it in a different way. Bahrain and Emirates chose to join the Accords to have a further, basically, step when it comes to negotiations directly with Israel.
00:04:43:15 – 00:04:51:09
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
While the others feel that, no, they want to do it through, the international bodies like the United Nations or through mediators like
00:04:51:11 – 00:05:01:04
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Egypt and Jordan. Yet we all see eye to eye as Gulf states. Although at the same time we don’t do things the exact same way.
00:05:01:06 – 00:05:13:13
Daniel J. Levy
And then turning to Iran, how does you’ve sort of already touched on how Bahrain perceives Iran and what the Iranian threat to the kingdom is, but how does that differ from the UAE and Saudi Arabia?
00:05:13:15 – 00:05:38:18
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
See, when it comes to your brand, for example, let’s start with Oman from the south. Oman feels that it is a mediator. Heads. They feel that they are dealing with Iran on a different footing, so they have a closer tie with them. Qatar, on another hand, feel that they are, a game changer in the region.
00:05:38:20 – 00:06:08:14
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Hence, the way they deal with Iran is a bit different then we’re talking about the United Arab Emirates, who have very close ties when it comes to trading. When it comes to, the merchants and money transfers. Yet at the same time, they have an issue, on a disputed islands at the same time, you see Bahrain having what I just described earlier, a dispute, a major dispute on the sovereignty of our country when we go to Saudi Arabia.
00:06:08:14 – 00:06:31:24
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in this part of the world. It is considered as the big sister. Hence, they have to be more responsible when it comes to that. Then we’re talking about Kuwait, which has a different total setting when it comes to Iran, which lately we don’t see it going on a very positive note. But throughout the years they had a different kind of friendly kind of, relationship with them.
00:06:32:01 – 00:06:44:07
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
So, it’s not one setting. Everybody deals with Iran, on another level, but at the same time we still intact as one, Gulf states, in a corporation.
00:06:44:10 – 00:06:48:06
Daniel J. Levy
So, you commented that the GCC is a unified bloc.
00:06:48:08 – 00:06:59:05
Daniel J. Levy
Could you perhaps give an example of contemporary events where that was proven, which we may not have expected to take in the sort of more Israel oriented analyst sphere.
00:06:59:07 – 00:07:23:20
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
When it comes to that? I always say that the Accords will take some time for them to properly work. Until now, we just probing why we don’t know each other. We never knew each other. Israel exists in the region officially for the past 78 years, while at the same time they were ghosted for 78 years. They do exist, but only for wars.
00:07:24:01 – 00:07:50:15
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
If it’s not a war, nobody acknowledges it, nobody deals with it, nobody travels there, and vice versa. So don’t tell me that throughout the 78 years that the people or the citizens of Israel know the people in the Gulf and vice versa, because we don’t let’s put it that way. The Israelis are more familiar with the Arabs in the Levant, maybe the Egyptians too, for many reasons.
00:07:50:15 – 00:08:15:10
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Some of the citizens of Israel, born, grew up, have ancestry related to Egypt before. So, they feel a bit closer when it comes to that. They signed, a form of accords before peace treaty, the same thing they did with Jordan. And then when it comes to the Levant, same thing, of course, with the Palestinians, the Lebanese, the, Jordanians and the Syrians, they’re close by.
00:08:15:12 – 00:08:41:05
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
So, when they learned Arabic, they learned the Levantine Arabic, when they learned the, the culture, they are familiar with that culture, not even the Iraqi, although they are Iraqi Jews. But I’m saying on a larger scale. So, when it comes to the Gulf, the number of Jews from the Gulf are very minimal. Hence that kind of cultural, attachment, cultural understanding is not there.
00:08:41:07 – 00:09:13:03
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
So after the accords, the, funnily enough, the, Israelis felt that the, the, Gulf, states or what the Israelis called us, the Gulf is translated from religions are basically filthy rich people with lots of money who are going to travel to as well, just dump the money on the Israelis and invest. Funnily enough, the Gulf is felt the same way that the Israelis are feel the rich are coming this way to heavily invest and all that.
00:09:13:03 – 00:09:43:06
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
But let’s put it that way, if you’re rich, it means you know how to deal with money. And that exactly was the case. It didn’t happen. Everybody is cautious. Everybody wants to understand the climate, the market, the, the consumer behaviour. It takes time to develop and to understand. And we are still in that phase. So, coming back to your main question was what they, let’s say, not comprehended properly after the Accords.
00:09:43:06 – 00:10:05:13
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
And I hear I’m talking about the Israelis, is that this love hate relationship, especially when the Israelis were catching on the relation between Qatar and the other Gulf states, especially over the past ten years and hence the attack on Qatar. They felt that the Gulf states are going to stand with Israel for their attack.
00:10:05:13 – 00:10:10:08
Daniel J. Levy
In Qatar being on September 25th in Doha. That’s correct. With the attempted. That’s why Hamas’s leadership.
00:10:10:11 – 00:10:32:10
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Yes, that’s correct, but it was the other way around. And Israelis are still shocked. They said, yeah, but Qatar did. I said, no, you don’t understand it. Whatever. No matter what Qatar does, we still intact as one family, we still Israelis. If Qatar or any other country does anything else in the Gulf, we are still one family and that’s not going to change.
00:10:32:12 – 00:10:51:09
Daniel J. Levy
And then if we circle back just over five years, go to autumn 2020 with the signing of the Abraham Accords at the ceremony in the white House. Then the individual treaties which followed UAE first rule in September, Bahrain in October, Morocco in December. What was the Bahraini jumped the accords? And how does that differ from the UAE?
00:10:51:11 – 00:11:18:21
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
It’s not too much different because if you remember the ceremony signing, at the white House, there was signed at the same time. Hence, we started the journey somehow on the same, setting at the same time. So, I could say it’s almost identical with few changes, because if we go back to have a look on the actual accords on the actual documents, each signed accord differs from the other.
00:11:18:23 – 00:11:46:04
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
The Emirati one is consisted of 67 pages. The Bahraini one is one page; the Moroccan is half a page. The, Sudanese is even less than that. So, each country seeks what it requires. Where are, for example, the Emirates was focusing on the economy, bilateral trade, agritech and technology, while in Bahrain it on the accords it was somehow left for imagination.
00:11:46:06 – 00:11:56:21
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
One reality is focusing more on much deeper. Bilateral. And here I’m talking about intelligence and other means.
00:11:56:23 – 00:12:21:04
Daniel J. Levy
And so again, we’re going to circle back to your earlier comments about Iranian intervention. Bahrain, Israeli Emirati ties date back to the 1990s with the rubbing up ministration and the US brokering those, those talks. So, there was almost 25 years of ties between Israel and the UAE. What were the historic ties between Israel and Bahrain pre accords, and how do they relate to those defence and security matters, which you alluded to with Iranian intervention.
00:12:21:08 – 00:12:47:07
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
There’s nothing that’s published or there’s nothing that’s out there when it comes to, such relations or official relations between Bahrain and Israel. Yet since we have an indigenous Jewish population in Bahrain, you could imagine, of course, they would travel to the Holy Land back and forth, and they have some, let’s say, acceptance from within.
00:12:47:09 – 00:13:11:06
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
That’s one. Then the second would be, if we’re talking about actual ties, I personally trace that. And it could be longer. It could be shorter. This is just my own personal, research. I traced it back to when the fief, had a meeting in Bahrain in 1994, and there was, an Israeli, delegate along with that.
00:13:11:06 – 00:13:13:22
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
And to me, that was the first encounter.
00:13:13:24 – 00:13:35:20
Daniel J. Levy
We are now approaching four weeks of mass protest in Iran, two weeks of internet blackouts and an incredibly aggressive, regime, repressive action against protesters. How does that impact the GCC and specifically Bahrain? What is the local view of what’s been happening in Iran, and how does that impact you guys?
00:13:35:22 – 00:14:01:16
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Of course. The situation is in Iran is extremely complicated, especially when it comes to the Gulf. We are next door, literally next door. So, when it comes to that, we have to take in mind, the, the idea that many of the Gulf citizens, have ancestry routed back to Iran as well. So, they have family, they have friends.
00:14:01:18 – 00:14:32:09
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Then we’re talking about the Shia component who will find, the Iranian ayatollahs, as they are for their scholars. So, mixing all of that, along with security, with reality, it’s it doesn’t make it an easy choice. You asked about how the Gulf feels. I’m going to split it in two. So, there is one notion that fuels anything that, assaults Iran today from abroad is an international unneeded intervention.
00:14:32:09 – 00:15:05:03
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
And Iran has the right to protect itself from, domestic and international, enemies, as they say. And this portion of people feel that what’s happening in Iran is not good. It’s orchestrated and that the people of Iran are not even, supporting what’s happening. I find it delusional, but that’s how people see it. So basically, how they look at it is exactly the way the Ayatollah in Iran is broadcasting.
00:15:05:03 – 00:15:29:16
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
It. Then you’re talking about, oh, we are talking about the second portion of, of ideas. Is that in case it happens, some people are looking at it merely from the point of view of the people that they are oppressed. And tomorrow morning, let’s say they put down the government, what’s going to happen? Nobody cares about that.
00:15:29:18 – 00:15:48:24
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
They just care about what’s happening right now. And then we talk about the third, portion of, of ideas, what’s floating around as the day after, let’s say it happens. What’s next?
00:15:49:01 – 00:16:10:14
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Are there any security concerns? Are the IRGC going to take over? Is, the, levy’s coming back? If he comes back, is he going to change anything? Where is that going? Or where is that going to take us? All of us in the Gulf. And as the sovereign state of Iran, is that going to be affected?
00:16:10:16 – 00:16:36:02
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Are the Arabs and Arabs and the Azeris the laws? The, the Turkmen and we’re talking about the revolutionaries and the Kurds. Are they going to split? Are they going to establish their own states, or are they going to remain as components of the Iranian community? All these are basically creating fears for the people, yet nothing is certain.
00:16:36:02 – 00:16:42:23
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Nobody is certain. And let’s put it that way, it’s the Iranian people who should decide what’s good and bad for them.
00:16:43:00 – 00:16:44:04
Daniel J. Levy
Absolutely.
00:16:44:06 – 00:17:00:05
Daniel J. Levy
And given the allegations of extent of Iranian activity, particularly from the Quds Force in Bahrain, what would the security concerns be about empowered IRGC in the aftermath? So, in fact, with the counter-revolution of all, if you see in Iran, once the failed revolution has run its course.
00:17:00:07 – 00:17:27:03
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Okay, that’s an amazing question. Before I answer that, we should look at a trend that’s whenever Iran or the regime in Iran is pressured in any way. You see that their proxies around the region are being more active, and that includes Bahrain as well. That being said, if we’re talking about how the IRGC are going to act, I’m guessing, I’m not just guessing.
00:17:27:03 – 00:17:44:08
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Basically, I’m being extremely positive that they are going to apply maximum pressure on the region. They are going to empower their proxies. If not establish new ones, they’re going to be more aggressive, and they’re going on with their agendas like never before.
00:17:44:10 – 00:17:50:19
Daniel J. Levy
And what does that mean in a Bahraini context? Who are those proxies and what kind of activities are they taking inside the kingdom?
00:17:50:21 – 00:18:24:11
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
So, with these proxies, we have two sets. We have ones that are in town that are embedded in Bahrain, and the others are between at least two countries. And we’re talking about Iraq and Iran. The strongest ones are based in Iran with their own people on the ground here. There’s another portion that are, if I’m going to say, of smaller numbers, they don’t have, visibility and they don’t have any taglines, no banners, no names.
00:18:24:17 – 00:18:57:12
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
And these are the dangerous ones. So, but because we can’t put a finger on them, let’s go back on the first to the locals in Bahrain, or the local proxies in Bahrain somehow work, in, sleeper cell kind of mode. They have been existing for a long time. But then after 2011, re empowered reestablished with newer ones established like Al-Ashtar Brigades amongst others.
00:18:57:14 – 00:19:42:22
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
They are armed. They are well trained by Qassam Soleimani himself. Men in their camps back in the day and waiting for a green light from their leadership either in Iraq or in Iran to start any move. The ones in Iran are somehow the considered as the leadership with Sheikh Isa Qassim being the, most famous one who always poses wearing military attire, giving allegiance basically, to the ayatollahs between them and then on video and not being shy from saying that Bahrain should be part and parcel of the Iranian regime one day.
00:19:42:24 – 00:19:45:08
Daniel J. Levy
So effectively, the lost province they were, you know.
00:19:45:13 – 00:19:47:13
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Exactly. Yes.
00:19:47:15 – 00:20:04:08
Daniel J. Levy
Policy wise, what’s the Bahraini government’s position on that? Of course it’s going to be opposed. But given that Iran is another sovereign state that would protect relations with other states, how does Bahrain bilaterally interact with Iran? What’s the engagement now and what’s the relationship been historically?
00:20:04:12 – 00:20:29:00
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Historically, as I just mentioned. And it was 71, between the 71 and 73 when Bahrain gained its independence. I said that the, Shah of Iran called to congratulate them, saying that we’re starting off on a clean slate, no problems. And that was the case until the revolution was there. And he was brought down.
00:20:29:02 – 00:21:14:07
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Now, when the Islamic trading started, we started on the wrong foot again, because in 81 they and here when I say the I’m talking about the Islamic regime in Iran backed a failed coup in Bahrain and into one. And from there, basically it was a hot, cold, mostly cold relationships with them reaching up to, the 2011 spring and what’s happened in Bahrain, basically, when the Bahraini government and international bodies, confirmed that later on that the Iranians were intervening directly in Bahraini businesses, and heat related businesses.
00:21:14:07 – 00:22:02:10
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
I’m talking politics, paying training. So, the diplomatic relations between Bahrain and Iran were seized until today, even direct flights are not there. From there as well. We have to talk about how, it has been managed because we between now and then do see that the Iranians and, you know, I’m talking to Iranian officials do announce that they are going to bring back that they are going to, especially after the Accords, fired missiles that Bahrain will go into, that’s what they claim, that they’re going to get Bahrain back, free the people of Bahrain and so forth with all these propaganda messages.
00:22:02:12 – 00:22:10:20
Daniel J. Levy
And how those how’s that messaging land of the Bahraini population be that Sunni, Shia and government?
00:22:10:22 – 00:22:32:11
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
When it comes to that, it’s not a matter of Shia. Also, not the majority are against it, although since we do have proxy and since we do have people with, with other agendas are supporting it, at minimum, if they don’t support it, the moment you debate with them, they will say that they didn’t mean it.
00:22:32:13 – 00:22:59:19
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
And Iranian official saying Bahrain is ours or saying we’ve taken Bahrain back. What do you mean? It doesn’t mean it’s so it’s evident that the propaganda is there when it comes to the government. The government is wiser when it comes to dealing with that more, secure as an opposite to insecure. So, they are very calm about it and they’re trying to navigate how to go through it from now on.
00:22:59:19 – 00:23:04:02
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Because with whatever is happening in Iran, it won’t be easy. Right?
00:23:04:04 – 00:23:33:12
Daniel J. Levy
Absolutely. I think we’re approaching end of podcast. So probably final top line question for me, for go over to you to add anything else. The war in Gaza, the war in Lebanon have strained Israeli relations with our partners to the code second, but those relations have held what was the impact on those wars but relations with Bahrain? And where do we find ourselves with bilateral relations on January 26th.
00:23:33:14 – 00:23:57:24
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
I still recall that the first three years of the after signing the accords, the bilateral trade, amount between Bahrain and Israel did not exceed 13 to 15 million, although over the past one year it has reached up to 130 million. So that’s massive. So, if people say that the October 7th has affected the accords, I will say yes it did.
00:23:58:01 – 00:24:22:03
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Is it told that? No, there are good size and there are bad sides, just like any other relationship that goes through turbulence. The Accords have helped, which is basically, in other words, stood the test of time and stood the test of the October 7th. It’s not an easy thing to go through, of course.
00:24:22:05 – 00:24:45:21
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
You see, we are an Arab and Muslim country. We do feel for the Palestinians. And you have lots of people from, the, the, the crowds, on the streets are not happy with whatever is happening to the protestors. Yet the way the governments are addressing it is not the same way that the common man was on the street.
00:24:45:23 – 00:25:19:11
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
So, you see the government today lining up with international, efforts to rebuild the Gaza. All the poppy, the population is happy about that. Some of them are. Some of them don’t understand it. Hence, you see, many are not happy with it. But on the long run, our government proved that not just by signing the accords, by even other means, that what they do is in the goodwill of the people, either the Bahrainis, the Palestinians or everybody else in the Middle East.
00:25:19:13 – 00:25:22:16
Daniel J. Levy
Thank you. And do you have anything to add before we close?
00:25:22:16 – 00:25:26:18
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
But no, I think we covered everything. I’m grateful to be on this podcast with you, Daniel.
00:25:26:21 – 00:25:29:17
Daniel J. Levy
Okay. Fantastic. So, thank you so much.
00:25:29:19 – 00:25:30:06
Ahmed Al Khuzaie
Thank you.