"BBC": Bomb attack near British Embassy in Bahrain.

A bomb exploded just 50 yards from the British Embassy in Bahrain yesterday as fears grew that Iranian-backed aggression against the West was spreading through the Middle East.

A canister containing powerful explosives blew apart the front of a minibus in the capital, Manama, but there were no injuries or serious damage.

The scare came less than a week after mobs stormed the British Embassy in Tehran, leading Foreign Secretary William Hague to pull diplomats from Iran and expel Iranian envoys from the UK.

Bahrain’s interior ministry spokesman Salah Salem said the bus blast in the early hours of yesterday was targeting the British mission.‘The explosion was the result of a package placed under the front tyre,’ he added. ‘Given the strength of the explosion and the debris it scattered, it was a highly explosive substance that was used.’A British Embassy spokesman said: ‘We are working with the interior ministry and we have requested a temporary increase in security. There were no casualties or damage to the embassy. We cannot identify yet the cause or the responsibility.’Bahrain’s majority Shia Muslims began an uprising in February seeking greater rights from the Gulf kingdom’s Sunni rulers, who have blamed Tehran for instigating the violence.Britain has a strong presence in the strategic Gulf island nation, which is also home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.Shia leaders in Bahrain deny any connections to Tehran and a report into the unrest by an independent commission also found no evidence of ties.Tension in the region was ratcheted up further yesterday when the Iranian military claimed it had shot down an unmanned U.S. spy drone that flew into its airspace along the eastern border.Iran said it has seized the crashed state-of-the-art Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel – the drone used to keep watch on Osama Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound before his death. Iran’s rogue regime also warned the West yesterday that any sanctions to block its oil exports would more than double crude oil prices.The warning came in response to efforts in Europe and the U.S. to crack down on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by banning foreign companies from dealing with Iran’s central bank.At least 35 people have died in clashes and protest-related violence in Bahrain since February. Hundreds of people have been arrested. Yesterday, three sportsmen – all Shia employees of the Bahrain armed forces – were each sentenced to one year in jail on charges that included disobeying orders to stay away from demonstrations.The trial of 61 other athletes and sports officials is scheduled for next month.n Syria was last night facing a wave of fresh international sanctions after it looked set to miss a final deadline to let independent monitors into the country.

The Arab League issued an ultimatum to Bashar al-Assad’s regime to sign up to requests amid mounting concern over the escalating death toll. The UN has warned its crackdown against protesters has killed more than 4,000 people.