Maybe because Bahrain is closer to Iran or maybe it's because they have a predominately Shia population.
Nothing on Sudan?
Also I found it weird that Somalis from Somalia are laughing along when Djibouti is part of the AMISOM contingent in Somalia. What does that say about Somalia?
Increased ties with Saudi Arabia.Sarcastic messages
Tiny Djibouti’s move is almost certainly more significant than Sudan’s. The small Horn of Africa nation, is home to the US’s only military base in Africa.
Iran has mocked Djibouti, which is mainly Sunni, sending out sarcastic messages over the “mighty” nation’s reported decision to do so. Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nowbakht said sarcastically that Iran is not worried about Saudi Arabia cutting its ties with Tehran, “even if this move is backed by the great country of Djibouti”.
And in a tweet, the editor of the hardline Keyhan newspaper, Hoseyn Shariatmadari, said the Iranian Foreign Ministry has “given 24 hours to Djibouti’s diplomats to find their own country on a map”.
READ: Little Djibouti, the ‘Gate of Tears’; why it’s the hottest African address for big powers
It’s interesting that Iran would respond to Djibouti’s move, even though it made light of it, and not to much larger Sudan - but even that is telling. Despite Iran’s sarcasm, little Djibouti’s location at the narrow strait separating Africa from the Middle East is of great strategic importance.
The US has its only full military base in Africa there; France, Japan, and - soon - China, will also have a military presence there. Iran has been trying to project its power in the area, by supporting the Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen.
The Houthi rebels fighting in north Yemen are Shi’a, supported by Iran – the global stronghold of Shi’a Islam. They are based in the rugged mountains of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea, and have now taken over most of the territory formerly known as North Yemen.
What is at stake
By supporting the Houthi rebels, should they ever prevail in the struggle for control in Yemen, Iran could one day control a combined 22% of the world’s oil trade by projecting power on two narrow chokepoints of global shipping lanes - the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast, and Bab-el-Mandeb, which separates Djibouti from Yemen and is not far from Houthi-controlled territory.
The spiraling tension makes the prospect for a diplomatic breakthrough in Yemen now look even remoter. There’s also growing speculation that Djibouti could raise the fee for Iranian oil tankers going through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait - something Iran wouldn’t want as it is just getting back into the global oil market, with the recent lifting of sanctions against the country.
But there’s more. Last December, piracy in the Indian Ocean was declared essentially over, with the reduction in size of what international navies call the “High Risk Area” off the Somali coast.
Kingdom, Djibouti promote energy links
Published — Sunday 9 January 2016
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Djibouti held wide ranging talks that discussed bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, including strategic plans devised to utilize alternative energy in the two countries.
Ali Yacoub Mahamoud, Djibouti’s minister of energy and water, who was in the capital to enhance bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, met Hashim Abdullah Yamani, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE), at its headquarters.
Ziauddin Said Bamakhrama, ambassador of Djibouti in Riyadh, accompanied the minister during the meeting.
The meeting reviewed issues of mutual interest, K.A.CARE’s activities and strategic plans devised to provide and utilize alternative energy in the two countries,” said the K.A.CARE media department.
The two leaders also discussed mutual cooperation in the sphere of alternative energy and utilization thereof in the production of electricity, water desalination and the development of atomic power applications in such fields as agriculture and medicine, it added.
The K.A.CARE is working closely with the ministry of transportation, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA) and the Directorate General of Military Survey to speed up work on atlas of atomic and renewable energy to achieve vision 2032, which aims to replace 50 percent of the dependence on traditional fossil fuel with eco-friendly renewed energy sources.
To this end, the Kingdom has also signed atomic cooperation agreements with France, South Korea, China, Argentina, Russia and Finland.
Earlier, the visiting minister also met Ali Al-Naimi, minister of petroleum and mineral resources, at his office and discussed various ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation in the oil, mining and energy sector.
They also discussed the idea to raise the efficiency of energy consumption as well as the successes achieved by the Kingdom in this field.
Saudi Arabia shares a very cordial relationship with Djibouti and the two countries recently reviewed bilateral relations and discussed ways to further enhance them in various fields when Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman met Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh in Riyadh in October 2015.
President Guelleh also decorated King Salman with the Medal of Djibouti Grand Star, the highest medal in the Horn of African nation, in recognition of the king’s efforts in resolving issues of Islamic and other Arab nations.
Notably, Djibouti cut its diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday in solidarity with Saudi Arabia snapping ties with Iran after its meddling in the internal affairs