Bahrain Mirror: The Commander of the United States Naval Forces Central Command and the US Fifth Fleet, Vice Admiral James J. Malloy discussed with the Bahraini Prime Minister, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the latest regional and global developments.

The Prime Minister received on Sunday (May 12, 2019) the Commander of the United States Naval Forces Central Command and the US Fifth Fleet, BNA reported.

The agency said that the two parties discussed "the long-standing bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation, as well as ways to bolster them in various fields."

The meeting also focused on the latest regional and global developments, in addition to ways to strengthen the existing partnership between the two countries in various fields.

The PM stressed the importance of enhancing joint efforts and action through international alliances to face various challenges aimed at subverting security and stability.

This came few days after US announced sending a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East amid severe tension between Washington and Tehran, which sparked fears of a war in the region.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Major General Hossein Salami, described earlier the US sending of aircraft carriers to region as a "psychological war".

The US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. The number of US soldiers and civilians working for the US Department of Defense (pentagon) in Bahrain is more than 9335 people, the US "Newsweek" magazine said in November 2017.

Bahrain is considered home of the US Fifth Fleet whose operations include the Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. It is located in Juffair, east of Manama.

One of the US Fifth Fleet responsibilities includes securing the Gulf region whose waters pass through nearly half of the world's oil supplies

Arabic Version