Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain and the United States are expected to sign a strategic economic and security agreement this week that will upgrade the U.S. security commitment to the Gulf kingdom, according to US media reports. 

The Euronews agency published a report in which it explained that the importance of this agreement is due to the fact that Bahrain is considered a major partner of the United States, as the base of the US Fifth Fleet is found in Bahrain. Bahrain has also become a key non-NATO ally of the United States, and while the name is important, it does not include security pledges.

Euronews quoted sources as saying that Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa will sign the agreement during a visit to Washington this week and that he will meet a number of officials in Washington, like Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Brett McGurk, Biden's senior Middle East adviser, visited Bahrain last week and met with the crown prince and other Bahraini officials, where he discussed the details of the agreement. The agreement includes a commitment to consult and provide assistance if Bahrain faces an imminent security threat, which practically means protecting and keeping the throne for the Al Khalifa family.  According to the same source that spoke with the agency, the agreement will include a security commitment, and outline an economic partnership between the U.S. and Bahrain as well as cooperation around trusted technologies. The agreement, however, does not include a NATO-style Article 5 commitment, which would have required the U.S. to see any attack on Bahrain as an attack on America.

The White House and the Bahraini Embassy declined to comment.  The US-Bahrain strategic agreement has been in the works for more than a year.

The Biden administration wanted to use the agreement as a framework for similar agreements with other countries in the region.  Bahrain's agreement with the US administration is part of a broader effort to strengthen US ties with Gulf Arab countries.

On Saturday, Biden announced together with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and India a major international infrastructure project to connect India, the Middle East and Europe with a network of railways and shipping lines.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman said in his speech at the launching of the project that the kingdom will invest $20 billion in Biden's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, which will also include the railway and shipping project.

The Biden administration's efforts to get a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel got another boost over the weekend when a delegation of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Antiquities Authority arrived in Riyadh to participate in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting. It was the first time an Israeli government delegation visited Saudi Arabia officially and publicly.

The United States is also in talks with Saudi Arabia with regards to a massive deal, which could include a joint Saudi-American defense treaty, which Riyadh wants to be stronger than ever.

Arabic Version