DOHA (Dispatches) – The United States, Bahrain, the Zionist regime and the United Arab Emirates have begun a joint naval training in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy announced.
The five-day exercise is the first time the four sides have publicly acknowledged joint maritime drills and comes after the UAE and Bahrain normalized relations with the Zionist regime last year.
The United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), which participated in the drills on the U.S. side, said on Thursday that the naval exercise kicked off on Wednesday.
The Red Sea links the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, making it one of the world’s key oil shipping routes.
The training underscores the shifting dynamics of the region following normalization agreements between several Arab states and the occupying regime during the administration of former president Donald Trump.
The UAE and Bahrain were respectively the first and second Arab countries that normalized their ties with the Zionist regime. Sudan and Morocco also followed suit soon afterward. The normalization deals, however, have been denounced by Palestinians and the people of the region as “treacherous,” sparking mounting opposition as well as protests in the four Arab countries.
Saudi Arabia, which is expected to join in as well, is reportedly preparing its population and “waiting for the right moment” to officially announce a normalization deal with the Tel Aviv regime.