LONDON: Sheik Nasser bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s national security advisor and Royal Guard commander, held talks in Manama on Wednesday with Vice Adm. Edward Ahlgren, the UK defense senior advisor to the Middle East and North Africa, on the security partnership between their countries.
They reviewed coordination and collaborations with the aim of ensuring regional security and peace, the Bahrain News Agency reported. Sheikh Nasser emphasized the need to strengthen military cooperation with the UK, including the Comprehensive Security, Integration and Prosperity Agreement. Bahrain and the US signed this agreement in late 2023, and the UK joined it in January 2025.
An island country in the Arabian Gulf, Bahrain is one of 10 countries targeted by Tehran with missiles and drones since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February, bombing the country’s military and civilian infrastructure and killing a number of top officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Bahrain is strategically important as it hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet but it has not participated in any direct, US-led operations against Iran. Manama welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran in April, but called for assurances that Iran would not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, and for the protection of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Jaber Al-Khalifa, the deputy national security advisor, also attended Wednesday’s meeting.
