UK planning Bahrain base with eyes on Iran

Britain’s announcement that it is planning to build a £15 million naval base in the protest racked monarchy of Bahrain came as a surprise to many observers, not least as it would seem to be in contradiction to both the UK’s cuts in naval spending, and their professed support for human-rights and democracy in the region.

Bahrain has been at the centre of continuing protests since 2011, but unlike many of the region’s nations where uprisings against governments that were perceived as challenging the West’s interests have received much media attention and covert backing from the West, Bahrain’s democracy movement has all but been ignored despite having endured severe repression, including scores of deaths, allegations of torture and arbitrary detention by Bahraini security forces.