The navies of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Israel and the United States made history on Wednesday as they began conducting a multilateral maritime security operations exercise in the Red Sea, US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement Thursday.
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The five-day exercise includes at-sea training aboard amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland and will focus on visit, board, search and seizure tactics. The training will enhance interoperability between participating forces' maritime interdiction teams.
"It is exciting to see US forces training with regional partners to enhance our collective maritime security capabilities," said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. "Maritime collaboration helps safeguard freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade, which are essential to regional security and stability."
The US 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses nearly 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab-al-Mandeb.
It was the first naval drill involving the four countries. The exercise comes at a time of rising tensions with regional powerhouse Iran and looming nuclear negotiations between the Islamic republic and global powers.
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