MANAMA: More than 800 Bahrainis gathered outside the Iranian Embassy in Bahrain yesterday to protest against comments by a hardline Iranian journalist that the country belongs to Iran.Clerics and MPs joined protesters who chanted anti-Iranian slogans.

"This is a message to Iran not to infringe on Bahrain's sovereignty," protest organiser Mohammed Al Marran said.

"We, the nation of Bahrain, have been an Arab Muslim country from the dawn of Islam," he added.

Manama said it was seeking an explanation from Tehran over an article by Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of leading hardline daily Kayhan, which said Bahrain was a province of Iran, and that Bahrainis were demanding the island's return to its "native land".

Iranian Embassy has distanced itself from Shariatmadari's article and said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would address the issue during a trip to the kingdom.