Tutuklamalar, inkarlar ve kayıp görüntüler: Körfez ülkelerinin İran saldırılarına tepkisi

İran ile ABD arasındaki çatışmanın başladığı 28 Şubat'tan bu yana, İran'ın Ürdün'e ve Washington'la müttefik Körfez ülkelerine yönelik saldırılarını belgelemeye çalışan 1.000'den fazla kişi tutuklandı. Bu ülkelerin hükümetleri bu tür görüntülerin yayılmasını engellemeye ve saldırıların hedeflerine ulaştığını inkar eden resmi bir söylemi sürdürmeye çalıştı. FRANCE 24 Observers İran'ın 13 Temmuz 2026'da (solda ve ortada) ve 16 Temmuz 2026'da Bahreyn'deki saldırılarını kısaca gösteren videolardan ekran görüntüleri.

© Observers Sadece birkaç saniyeliğine kaydedilen uzak bir patlama: 16 Temmuz'da Telegram'da paylaşılan ve İran'ın Kuveyt'e düzenlediği saldırıyı belgeleyen bir videoda görünen şey bu. Görüntüler, FRANCE 24 Observers ekibi tarafından onaylanan Irak'ın sınır kenti Umm Qasr'dan kaydedildi.

Since the conflict between Iran and the United States began on February 28, more than 1,000 people have been arrested for attempting to document Iranian strikes in Jordan and Gulf countries allied with Washington. The governments of these countries have sought to deter the circulation of such images and maintain an official narrative denying that the strikes reached their targets. By: The FRANCE 24 Observers Screenshots from videos briefly showing Iranian strikes in Bahrain on July 13, 2026 (left and centre) and on July 16, 2026. © Observers A distant explosion, filmed for only a few seconds: that is what appears in a video shared on Telegram on July 16, documenting an Iranian strike on Kuwait.

The footage was recorded from the Iraqi border city of Umm Qasr, a location confirmed by the FRANCE 24 Observers team. To display this content from Telegram, you must enable tracking and audience measurement. Since the conflict began on February 28, Iran has repeatedly responded to US and Israeli attacks by targeting US military sites in allied states across the Persian Gulf region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, all of which host US bases.

But images documenting these strikes are often fleeting and filmed from a distance. Across the region, authorities have pursued repressive policies against anyone documenting the impact of Tehran’s attacks. From the first days of the war, residents, journalists, tourists and expatriates have faced a severe crackdown.

According to Amnesty International, more than 1,000 people have been arrested across these US-allied states. Mahmoud Shalaby, a regional researcher at Amnesty International, said: "Since the beginning of the war, Arab countries across the Gulf have issued blanket warnings instructing citizens and residents not to film or share images of Iranian attacks on Gulf states. They then launched a crackdown.

Gulf countries have used the war as a pretext to expand restrictions on freedom of expression that were already in place before the conflict. For example, between May 20 and May 26, more than 300 people were arrested in Bahrain alone. At least 34 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years for sharing a photograph or video on Instagram, according to local human rights groups.

In Kuwait, more than 200 people received either suspended sentences or prison terms ranging from one to 10 years between April and May. In the UAE, authorities announced the arrest of 375 people in March. We also documented Emirati police conducting door-to-door searches and inspecting phones in areas where drones had struck.

However, we have little information about the legal status of those detained in the UAE. Another aspect of the crackdown in Kuwait and Bahrain is the stripping of citizenship. Bahrain recently announced that it had revoked the citizenship of 69 people for, according to the authorities, ‘expressing sympathy with the Iranian attacks or engaging with external parties’.

Kuwait also announced that it had stripped more than 1,000 people of their citizenship without providing reasons. It is important to note that, while countries may derogate from certain rights during armed conflict, such measures must comply with international human rights standards, including legality, necessity and proportionality. The blanket bans imposed by Gulf states go far beyond these requirements and remain incompatible with international law., Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan have also adopted a common public line, claiming to have intercepted the attacks – despite evidence to the contrary – before some of the monarchies recently began acknowledging that certain strikes did get through."