UK to set up permanent Middle East base

The United Kingdom said on Friday that it had signed a deal to set up a permanent military base in Bahrain, the UK’s first foreign base in the Middle East since it withdrew from there in 1971.

The deal, worth £15 million, will allow Britain to improve its onshore facilities at the Mina Salman Port where it already bases four mine-hunter warships on a permanent basis. The port is also used to support British Destroyers and Fighters in the Gulf.

The Ministry of Defence said that the improved base will include places to plan, store equipment and accommodate Royal Navy personnel. There are also plans to increase the number of warships that British has based in that region.

“This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy’s footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf,” British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said. “We will now be based again in the Gulf for the long term.”

"The expansion of Britain's footprint builds upon our 30-year track record of Gulf patrols,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who signed the deal, said. “It is just one example of our growing partnership with Gulf partners to tackle shared strategic and regional threats."

Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa also praised the deal.

"Bahrain looks forward to the early implementation of today's arrangement and to continuing to work with the UK and other partners to address threats to regional security," he said.

The United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet is also permanently based in Bahrain, while France have had a base in the United Arab Emirates.