UK to establish permanent Mideast military base

(Agencies) / 7 December 2014

Shaikh Abdullah checks his phone during the 10th International Institute for the Strategic Studies in Manama, Bahrain. -AP

Britain’s top diplomat said on Saturday his country has signed a deal with Bahrain that will bolster the United Kingdom’s military presence in the island nation and give it a more permanent naval base in the Arabian Gulf region.

The agreement marks a strategic shift for Britain, which formally withdrew from its major Gulf military bases in 1971. It comes as the UK, the United States and their allies seek to push back ISIS group militants that have taken over large parts of Iran and Syria and as world powers work to forge a lasting nuclear deal with Iran, which sits just across the Gulf from Bahrain.

Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Foreign Minister, participated in the ‘IISS Manama Dialogue 2014: 10th Regional Security Summit’ alongside a blend of 400 VIPs including 50 defence ministers, foreign ministers, national security advisers, and military and intelligence chiefs who came together to discuss regional and international issues such as efforts in combating terrorism in the Middle East, the Palestinian cause, Iran’s nuclear programme, the crisis in Syria and others.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond emphasised his country’s historic links to the Gulf in announcing the plans at a security conference in the Bahraini capital, Manama.

“In a globalised world, our domestic security and prosperity depends on developments beyond our shores,” Hammond said. “Your security concerns are our security concerns.”

Bahrain already hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is responsible for operations around the Arabian Peninsula as well as parts of the Indian Ocean. The deal ensures a permanent footing for the Royal Navy in the Gulf, Hammond said. The Strait of Hormuz is the route for 30 percent of world oil supplies carried by tanker ships. The agreement calls for improved onshore facilities at Bahrain’s Mina Salman port that will give the Royal Navy a base to plan, store equipment and house military personnel.

Four British minesweepers are already based in Bahrain, and other British ships rely on facilities in the kingdom. Those operations were carried out on an ad hoc basis, and left personnel relying on “frankly very poor temporary accommodation,” Hammond said. 

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