Bahrain’s king plays the Saudi card: a three-month martial law, five protesters murdered and more than a hundred others wounded.

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The streets of Bahrain's capital, Manama, have again erupted in violence as the kingdom's besieged monarch declared martial law and ordered troops - including Saudi forces - to take all measures to quell a festering rebellion.

Saudi and Gulf States dispatched their armed forces to assist in quelling Bahraini peaceful anti-government demonstrators. A critical step demanded by the Bahraini kingdom, which analysts say it showed how immense the U.S influence in the region is.

Thousands of Bahraini protesters marched from the Pearl Square roundabout towards the Saudi embassy on Tuesday against the Gulf military intervention.

Sources told Al-Manar TV that a fresh violence harvested more than 100 causalities, including at least 5 martyrs, one of whom was martyred of wounds to the head. Casualties were resulted while Bahraini forces stormed into a peaceful protest in Sitra, north of Bahrain, where live-fire shot protesters down.

Activists reported that violent clashes erupted in several villages between protesters and security forces, while a security official said that police had begun reopening roads closed by the demonstrators in the southern regions.

A Bahraini opposition leader has warned that if Saudi Arabia wouldn’t withdraw its forces from Bahrain, a new war could have spread across the Persian Gulf region, “otherwise there will be bad consequences,” the opposition activist Saeed al-Shehabi said.

UN
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concerns over the deployment of foreign troops in Bahrain. Ki-moon underscores the responsibility of all parties to act in strict accordance with international norms and laws,” stressing on the importance of a broad-based national dialogue.

IRAN
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the military intervention in Bahrain was "unacceptable" and will complicate the already volatile situation there.

"Basically, we do not think it is right for other countries, specially Persian Gulf countries, to militarily intervene in Bahrain's situation," Mehmanparast said.

"The people of Bahrain have demands, which are legitimate and are being expressed peacefully. Any violence in response to these legitimate demands should be stopped," he added.

US
The United States did neither criticize nor explicitly welcome the troops' move into Bahrain. "This is not an invasion of a country," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

It is noteworthy to mention that the deployment of 1,000 Saudi troops, at the request of Bahrain's royal family, came two days after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the country.

The Pentagon claimed that neither Gates nor Admiral Mike Mullen had been given any indication that Saudi or other regional forces would deploy troops in Bahrain.

However, no decision has yet been taken regarding Pearl Square, the epicenter of protests and the home of the US Fifth Fleet.

EU
The European Union echoed Ban’s voice urging "utmost restraint" and calling on security forces to respect the "right to assemble peacefully".

"We're very concerned by reports of serious violence in the streets in Bahrain," said a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. "We call on the security forces present to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms including the right to assemble freely and peacefully," she added.