the real purpose of the intervention was to stop "a growing rebellion by the kingdom's majority, but deprived ... shia citizens" by taking all necessary measures. death of an emirati policeman, tariq al-shehi, made it clear that the foreign troops were in fact involved in suppressing protests. according to nuruzzaman, the most important factor leading to saudi’s intervention in bahrain, is "the domino effect of bahrain's fall into shia hands". concerned about their own shia population and fearful of democratic change, saudi king abdullah sought to reverse the pro-democracy movements in his neighbor countries using force. saudi arabia maintained that the cause of unrest in saudi's eastern province, is the shia uprising in bahrain. according to steffen hertog, a saudi arabia expert at the london school of economics and political science, saudi's move was a signal to shia movements in the eastern province to express how seriously saudi intended to crack down the unrest. moreover, keeping al-khalifa, "the key conservative sunni ally of saudi", in power was of notable importance to saudi to avoid the spread of iran's influence in west of gulf. saudi arabia acted through gcc to mask its "strategic concern" about iran and its influence.