Al Arabiya English reports that Bahrain authorities have arrested several people they described as a “terrorist cell” for planning attacks targeting security and civil entities, according to state-run news agency report.

“Within the framework of security efforts to preserve the security of the homeland and in a proactive security operation in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service, the Investigation and Criminal Evidence Department announced the arrest of terrorist elements who began planning and preparing for terrorist operations targeting security and civil peace, and the seizure of weapons and explosives sourced from Iran with those elements associated with terrorist groups are in Iran,” read a report by the Bahrain News Agency.

Last November, Bahrain's High Criminal Court sentenced 51 defendants to prison terms ranging between five years and life in prison on charges of forming and joining a terrorist group which took orders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

The US has also designated an Iran-backed extremist group based in Bahrain as a terrorist organization, citing its threat to US national security and foreign policy.

The Saraya al-Mukhtar group is now considered “a Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” according to a US State Department statement.