Amid a widening of anti-government protests in Pearl Square in Manama, Bahrain, the US is increasingly worried about the fate of its strategic Navy's Fifth Fleet in the country.
A large group protestors returned to the Square quickly after Bahrain's crown prince, Sheik Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa called for withdrawal of troops from Pearl Square, making Washington more concerned about a likely loss of its fifth naval base in the country, according to CNN.
US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley has said that Obama administrations are anger and unpleasant against developments in Bahrain.
Fighter jets from carriers in the fleet provide close air support for American troops in the region.
"It's our most important strategic asset in the Persian Gulf," said Michael Rubin, a former Bahrain resident and Middle East expert at the American Enterprise Institute, according to CNN.
If Bahrain's government falls, "there is no question -- no ifs, ands or buts -- the Fifth Fleet would be sent packing," Rubin predicted.
The Obama administration is "not being too vocal on the riots in Bahrain because it's pretty much the one country where we can't afford regime change," he said. - IRIB.ir
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