Bahrain Refinery: What is the Iranian regime failing to understand?
The targeting of vital facilities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, foremost among them the Bapco oil refinery, once again reveals the Iranian regime’s inability to understand the nature of the Bahraini experience and its path to development. Such attacks do not reflect strength or strategic capability, but rather a limited understanding that reduces the power of states to their facilities or natural resources, whereas the Bahraini experience has been based on a completely different foundation since its inception: building people, promoting knowledge, and strengthening institutions.
The leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain realized early on that true development is not based solely on resources, but on the people who are capable of managing and developing them. Bahrain was one of the first countries in the region to lay the foundations for formal education with the establishment of Al-Hidayah Al-Khalifa School in 1919, thus beginning a long educational journey that contributed to the preparation of national talent that led various economic sectors, foremost among which were energy and industry. Since then, the development of the Bahraini economy has been linked to clear policies focused on building national capacities and qualifying Bahrainis to be key partners in the management and development of modern industries.
However, what the Iranian regime seems to fail to realize is that targeting facilities does not change a fundamental reality, which is that Bahrain’s strength lies not only in its facilities, but also in its society and in the deep national cohesion between its people and its leadership. This cohesion, forged through years of national effort, is the source of stability and strength in the Kingdom, enabling Bahrain to face challenges and turn them into opportunities for growth and development. In contrast, the Iranian regime offers a completely opposite model. Instead of directing its country’s resources toward development and prosperity, it has chosen to drain its people’s resources on policies of regional tension, missile and drone programs, and spreading chaos in its surroundings. A regime that squanders its people’s wealth on military projects and foreign conflicts, while its people suffer from worsening economic and living crises, cannot understand the meaning of development based on building people and institutions.
Therefore, the attack on vital facilities in Bahrain does not reflect strength so much as it reflects a political and intellectual impasse for a regime that has chosen the path of destruction over construction. Countries that build their future through science, work, and investment in people are not shaken by such desperate attempts. The Kingdom of Bahrain, like the rest of the Arab Gulf states, has chosen to move toward the future through development, stability, and the building of a knowledge-based economy. Regimes that live in a state of constant conflict and invest their resources in instruments of destruction often fail to understand this equation.
This is where the Iranian regime’s fundamental miscalculation lies. Targeting facilities cannot change the established fact that Bahrain’s strength stems from its society, the deep cohesion between its people and its leadership, and a development experience shaped by years of joint action and investment in people. For this reason, the Kingdom of Bahrain will continue to pursue its development path with confidence, because the foundation on which this path is built is not a facility here or a project there, but rather people who believe in their homeland and a leadership that views development as a renewable national project.
Note: This article has been automatically translated, the full article is available in Arabic.
Dr. Abdulla AlAbbasi, Director of Energy Studies Program
