Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan RouhaniReuters

Iran has expelled a senior official from Bahrain's embassy in Tehran, in apparent retaliation after the Sunni-ruled Gulf state expelled the Iranian envoy in Manama and recalled its ambassador last Thursday.

"The number two official in Bahrain's embassy in Iran is persona non grata and Mr Bassam al-Dossari must leave Iran's territory within 72 hours," the official IRNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying late Friday.

Bahrain on Thursday recalled its ambassador from Iran and ordered Tehran's envoy to leave within 72 hours, accusing the leading state sponsor of terror with having established and managed terror cells in its country to "interfere" with internal affairs.

On Friday, Bahrain took its protest to the United Nations by submitting a complaint against Iran.

"Iran has chosen the path of escalation in an attempt to exert control over its neighbors by continuing to interfere in internal affairs" of neighboring countries, BNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa as telling UN chief Ban Ki-Moon.

The Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, with a majority Shi'ite Muslim population ruled by a Sunni dynasty, has suffered unrest since a pro-democracy uprising in the "Arab Spring" of 2011.

Iran has rejected "the baseless accusations from Bahrain," claiming the kingdom is "evading its internal problems by passing the buck, instead of solving them" Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told state television on Friday.

"Tehran has not and will not interfere in Bahrain's internal affairs and reacts accordingly to Bahrain's actions."

Bahrain is part of an arab coalition, led by Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia, that has been striking Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for over six months. The coalition accuses Iran of arming rebels in Bahrain and Yemen.

Bahran's accusations are meaningful given Israel's warnings that the sanctions kickback Iran stands to gain in the nuclear deal will encourage its hegemonic aggression in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq via terror proxies and Shi'ite militias, as well as Iranian troops.

AFP contributed to this report.