(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz landed in Bahrain for an unannounced visit on Wednesday at a time of escalating tensions in the Gulf region.
The countries are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation during the first official visit by an Israeli defense minister, the Jerusalem Post reported. The MOU will include a number of arms agreements and other defense-related sales between the countries, which normalized relations in 2020, according to the report.
Gantz will meet with senior Bahraini defense officials and members of the kingdom's leadership during his two-day trip. Bahrain is one of four countries in the Gulf region and North Africa that signed U.S.-brokered diplomatic agreements in the waning days of Donald Trump's administration.
The defense minister traveled to Bahrain after Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen attacked another Gulf nation, the United Arab Emirates, on three occasions over the past month, lastly during a visit there this week by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. will deploy aircraft to assist the UAE, and the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, just launched an international maritime drill in the Red Sea that includes Israel.
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Gantz's visit also coincides with what may be the final stages of negotiation between Iran and world powers, including the U.S., on reviving a 2015 accord that limited Tehran's atomic activities in return for an easing of sanctions. Bahrain's 2020 pact with Israel was based in part on a shared antipathy toward Iran.
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