Bahrain hosts Gulf maritime security conference amid Iran tensions – report

Bahrain has hosted a conference on Gulf maritime security, following attacks on shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The tiny Gulf monarchy, which also hosts the US Fifth Fleet, said the meeting was held “to discuss the current regional situation and to strengthen cooperation.”

It also slammed “the repeated attacks and unacceptable practices of Iran,” Reuters reported.

Manama did not specify who attended the conference, which took place on Wednesday. The Guardian had reported a day earlier that the UK had called for a meeting in Bahrain with other European countries and the US.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said “the will of the people will prevail” in Bahrain, after protests there followed the execution of two Bahraini Shiite Muslim activists over the weekend.