British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, center right, and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, center left, lay a cornerstone for a new British military base being built in Manama, Bahrain, on Saturday.

Construction work has begun in Bahrain to build Britain’s first permanent military base in the Middle East since 1971, amid security threats in the region, Bahrain’s state media reported Sunday.

“The ground-breaking ceremony for the establishment of the marine facilities headquarters in the kingdom of Bahrain” was launched on Saturday, said the official BNA news agency.

The ceremony was attended by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Al-Khalifa, it said.

Hammond tweeted on Saturday that “work starts today on new @RoyalNavy base at Mina Salman #Bahrain,” and said the new base “is a symbol of UK’s enduring commitment to Gulf security.”

The new base is part of a deal reached last year between the two countries to increase cooperation in tackling security threats in the Middle East.

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