Bahraini's 10-Year Jail Term for Spying for Iran Confirmed

A Bahraini accused of spying for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards unit has had his 10-year jail sentence confirmed by a court of appeal, the state news agency BNA news agency reported.

The sentence, passed in July 2011 by a lower court, was confirmed on Sunday by the Court of Appeal in Manama, the report said.

The convicted man, who has not been identified, was accused of passing "military information and identifying sensitive sites in Bahrain" to two Iranian diplomats posted to Kuwait, according to local media.

The reports said he was recruited as a paid spy by the diplomats when he visited relatives in Kuwait, with the information he supplied passed on to the Revolutionary Guards.

Relations between Shiite Iran and Sunni-ruled Shiite-majority Bahrain have been strained since Manama two years ago with the help of Gulf troops, mainly from Saudi Arabia, crushed a Shiite-led uprising in the kingdom.