Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain is caught in the middle of a high-stakes game between its larger neighbours, Saudi Arabia and Iran, reported the Business Standard website, highlighting that "what's at stake is economic and political dominance of the West Asia."

Business Standard further noted that the tiny kingdom's Sunni monarchy depends on the support it receives from Riyadh and other oil-rich sheikhdoms in the Gulf for its survival but in return has become a proxy for their pan-regional feud with Iran.

In an article by Andy Critchlow, the business daily described Bahrain's move to strip the citizenship from the spiritual leader of its majority Shi'ite Muslim population as "a risky strategy," adding that "the public defenestration of Ayatollah Isa Qassim may have turned a mostly harmless thorn in the side of the ruling Khalifa family - which is concerned by alleged growing Iranian interference in the archipelago - into a serious political crisis by inflaming sectarian tension."

"Instability is bad for business in a tiny kingdom with dwindling resources and many regional competitors for foreign investment," it further read.

"A big fear for the government will be the loss of appeal to investors."

"Saudi's attempts to diversify its economy away from oil, and Iran's re-emergence into the global financial system as sanctions are lifted, will create tensions that draw in neighbours like Bahrain," stressed Business Standard.

"That is inevitable. Instead of taking sides in a messy proxy war though, the small Gulf trading enclave might be wiser to appease its own people and remain neutral - otherwise no matter which of side comes out on top, Bahrain could be a loser."

Arabic Version