The United Kingdom (UK) on 6 December 2014 signed an agreement with Bahrain to establish a permanent naval base at Mina Salman Port in Bahrain.
The agreement was signed between the Foreign Secretary of UK's Philip Hammond and Foreign Minister of Bahrain Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.
The new base will bolster and provide the Royal Navy with a forward operating base and a place to plan, store equipment for naval operations and accommodate Royal Navy personnel.
The base will be built by Bahrain at an estimated cost of 15 million pounds with the British underwriting the ongoing costs. It will be completed in 2015.
The base will be in addition to the UK’s four-mine hunter warships permanently based in Bahrain that supports British destroyers and frigates in the Gulf.
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The naval base will become the springboard for Britain’s involvement in the Middle East, most importantly its operations in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition against the armies of the Islamic State.
The country already hosts the Naval Support Activity Bahrain controlled by the US government, which is the port where the US Fifth Fleet is positioned. It is also where the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command for the region is headquartered.