Iranian hackers targeted Bahrain's Housing Ministry website to post anti-government messages, the ministry officials has claimed.

Cyber criminals with links to Iran were said to be responsible for the ministry hacking attempt, the officials said, adding that no personal data had been stolen from the website.

"The ministry wishes to reassure the citizens of Bahrain that the ministry's housing information database of eligible applicants and beneficiaries of housing services has not been compromised," they said.

Those who visited the site were initially shown an image of a hand covered in blood and a soldier moving away from a corpse with a US flag in the background amid anti-government messages. The website has since been blocked.

Officials said the website uses US servers and these hackers breached their security process, which affected their website.

They also said they are planning to host their servers in Bahrain after the incident.

The website of the Philippines Embassy in Bahrain was hacked last month to plant messages against Bahrain authorities.

The ministry officials and the information technology section staff are working to remove hacking effects and correct any malfunction that may have affected its website.

Moreover, the housing ministry would like to inform the public that the news being circulated in the social media such as Twitter and in Blackberry messages are unfounded and there has been no leakage of information or data belonging to citizens in its housing services database, they added.

Bahraini authorities have launched a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters from the Shiite-majority community in the kingdom that is ruled by a Sunni dynasty. Bahrain accuses foreign hands in the recent uprising, apparently referring to neighbouring Iran.

The ties between the two countries are at lowest after Bahrain expelled some Iranian diplomats accusing them of being involved in anti-kingdom activities.