Bahrain is critical security partner to US, says Kerry

Manama: The Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa held a press conference today with US Secretary of State, John Kerry, ahead of the joint ministerial meeting with the GCC ministers of foreign affairs.

During the press conference with international and local media representatives Shaikh Khalid said Kerry's visit to the kingdom provided him with the opportunity to talks about matters of mutual importance.

"We just had a fruitful meeting where we discussed ways to strengthen our cooperation in all fields," he said.

"We discussed ways to further our military cooperation through mechanism agreed at Camp David last year. We also discussed the importance of US-Bahrain free trade agreement which is responsible for a considerable increase in the bilateral trade in the past 10 years or so."

Shaikh Khalid said that he and Kerry also explored ways to increase the mutual benefits of the agreement and take the trade relationship forward in the coming years.

"Regionally we talked about the importance of political solutions in Syria that preserve peace and the importance of reaching to a political solution for the crisis through dialogue," he said.

"We also discussed the political solution in Yemen and we talked about ways to preserve regional peace and confront Daesh and other terrorist organisations in the region."

Shaikh Khalid said the flow of funds to Daesh must be stopped.

"On Iran, we agreed that it is time for Iran to genuinely stop interfering in our domestic and regional affairs for the benefit of regional peace and prosperity.

"We expect Iran to consider mending ties with regional countries and solve the nuclear dispute," added Shaikh Khalid.

He said that the visit highlights the importance of the strong and historic ties between the two nations.

"The United States and Bahrain have stood together through numerous regional crises. The US has stood by Bahrain through good and difficult times and we have always appreciated that and remain as always good friends and allies."

Kerry said that he was very pleased to be in Bahrain.

"I was glad that I got the opportunity to talk in length with Shaikh Khalid about our countries' bilateral status which continues to be strong," he said.

"Bahrain is a critical security partner of the United States. I visited our base here and had meetings to get first hand assessment of our security channels. Among the topics we discussed were the latest developments in Syria, the prospects for a settlement in Yemen as well as the peace stabilising in Iran which United States takes very seriously."

Kerry also talked about the ongoing fight against terrorist groups specifically, Daesh.

"Bahrain has been providing valuable logistics and operational support to the coalition against terrorism. It also hosted an international workshop aimed at preventing the diversion of contributions to terrorist organisations," he added.

"Clearly the fight against Daesh is going to be the centre piece of our discussions but it's very encouraging to know that United States and Bahrain stand absolutely side by side.

"United States is very grateful for the logistical and operational support that Bahrain provides for NAFSA and the Fifth Fleet.

"This week Bahrain is participating in and helping to facilitate the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise. The largest naval exercise of its kind which involves no fewer than 42 states," added Kerry.

"I anticipate the continuation of a very strong and mutual beneficial relationship between the US and Bahrain in many years to come."