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Five protesters were killed and 286 arrested after police in Bahrain raided the hometown of a Shia Muslim spiritual leader who faces deportation.

Sheikh Isa Qassim was stripped of his citizenship last June, and last week a court gave him a year's suspended sentence for financial corruption.

He was not among those detained in Diraz, but the interior ministry said "terrorists and convicted felons" were hiding inside his home.

Footage from the town showed protesters confronting armoured vehicles and police.

Gunshots are heard and white smoke from tear gas can be seen.

Tuesday's violence comes just days after Donald Trump told King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa that he would improve relations between the two countries.

Their relationship has been strained for several years, despite the kingdom being host to the US Navy.

A crackdown on dissent over the last year has heightened tensions between the Shia majority and the Sunni rulers, and access to Diraz has been tightly controlled for months.

Bahrain accuses Iran of encouraging unrest by the country's Shia population, while Iran said Mr Trump's remarks about Tehran supporting militant groups were to blame for the deaths.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeted: "First concrete result of POTUS (Trump) cozying up to despots in Riyadh: Deadly attack on peaceful protesters by emboldened Bahrain regime."

Nicholas McGeehan, a senior Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "The timing of this operation two days after King Hamad's convivial meeting with President Trump can hardly be a coincidence."

Ebtasam Alsaegh, from the neighbouring village of Bani Jamra, said mosques had called residents to the streets to protect Sheikh Qassim.

"The situation is terrifying," she said.

The interior ministry said that police had been deployed to remove road blocks and barricades.

"Police remain deployed in the area to ensure the safety of people," it said in a statement.

It added that 19 members of the security services were injured after petrol bombs were thrown at them.

During 2011's Arab Spring, Bahrain crushed an uprising by the Shia community with the help of Saudi Arabia.

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Iran blames Trump as Bahrain protesters killed - Sky News

New York Times

In Saudi Arabia, Trump Reaches Out to Sunni Nations, at Iran's Expense New York Times RIYADH, Saudi Arabia As voters in Iran danced in the streets, celebrating the landslide re-election of a moderate as president, President Trump stood in front of a gathering of leaders from across the Muslim world and called on them to isolate a ... Iran calls Trump's Saudi visit 'theatrical'CNN Why Iran's hardliners may be cheering Trump's hard lineCBS News Trump accuses Iran of fuelling 'fires of sectarian conflict'Irish Times Washington Times -The Intercept -The Sun all 5,496 news articles »

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In Saudi Arabia, Trump Reaches Out to Sunni Nations, at Iran's Expense - New York Times

NPR

Iran Prison Atlas' Database Keeps Track Of Iranian Political Prisoners NPR The organization, United For Iran, publishes the Iran Prison Atlas. It's a website collecting information about Iranians described as political prisoners. Facebook; Twitter. Google+. Email. Get The Stories That Grabbed Us This Week. Delivered to your ...

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Iran Prison Atlas' Database Keeps Track Of Iranian Political Prisoners - NPR

NPR	Trump Harshly Criticizes Iran During Speech In Saudi Arabia NPR Steve Inskeep talks to Karim Sadjadpour, Iran analyst at the Carnegie Endowment about how President Trump portrayed Iran during his remarks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over the weekend. Facebook; Twitter. Google+. Email ...

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Trump Harshly Criticizes Iran During Speech In Saudi Arabia - NPR

President Donald Trumps first foreign trip kicked off in Saudi Arabia this weekend. The Saudis rolled out the proverbial (and literal) red carpet with a military flyover, a herd of horsemen, and a sword dance. Trump signed a $110 billion arms deal (that could grow as big as $350 billion over ten years), and tossed in the garbage all his campaign-trail rhetoric about Islam and terrorism for his big speech to Muslim leaders.

On Sunday, Trump dropped his repeated claims that Islam hates us in favor of George Bush-esque lines like, This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it.

He also joined with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Saudi King Salman to open the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, which was launched with the group touch of a glowing orb.

Trump then went to Israel, or as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson put it: Tel Aviv, home of Judaism. Trump arrived Monday for a slew of meetings, including with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday, he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; on Wednesday, at the Vatican, he will meet with Pope Francis, who criticized Trumps plans to build a wall as un-Christian. He will end the week in Brussels and Sicily for the NATO and G-7 summits, respectively.

In other presidential news: Iran re-elected centrist Hassan Rouhani by a significant margin. A mandate may empower Rouhani to deal with the Supreme Leader and security services and to make deeper economic reforms so that the people of Iran can benefit from the sanctions relief that came with the Iran nuclear deal. That deal is still in place with the United States as a signatory for now, at least. Whether U.S. policy will change as a result of Rouhanis reelection remains to be seen. Also still to be seen: How the world including Trump, the U.N., and newly elected South Korean president responds to North Korea, which this weekend launched a medium-range ballistic missile. Tillerson said Sunday that he found the move disappointing, disturbing. South Koreas foreign ministry said the tests were reckless and irresponsible actions throwing cold water over the hopes and desires of this new government and the international community for denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula.

Photo credit:MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

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Trump's Trip, Iranian Elections, North Korea's Missile Test: The Weekend Behind, the Week Ahead - Foreign Policy (blog)