Five people were sentenced to life in Bahrain on Tuesday for plotting “terrorist and hostile acts” with Iran, which bombarded the tiny Gulf state during the Middle East war.

Two Afghans and three Bahrainis were convicted and a fourth Bahraini was acquitted by the High Criminal Court, the public prosecution said.

They were accused of monitoring and photographing “vital facilities” for Iran, it said.

“The Public Prosecution affirms that the crime of communicating with hostile foreign entities against the Kingdom of Bahrain is considered one of the most serious crimes affecting national security,” the statement said.

The public prosecution is considering appealing against the acquittal of the sixth defendant, it added.

Iran launched waves of missile and drone strikes against Gulf states, including Bahrain, in response to US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic that sparked the Middle East war on February 28.

Human Rights Watch last month expressed alarm over the arrests of “dozens of people” in the region since the start of the Middle East war.

On Monday, Bahrain revoked the citizenship of 69 people, saying they had “supported hostile Iranian acts”.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Advocacy Director at the Britain-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), had condemned the move, calling it “the beginning of a dangerous era of repression” and saying the decisions were “imposed without legal safeguards or any right of appeal”.

BIRD said it was the first such revocation of citizenship in Bahrain since 2019. Between 2012 and 2019, Bahrain revoked the citizenship of at least 990 nationals, the group said.