Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Bahrain Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to reaffirm the strong U.S.-Bahrain partnership and to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
The Secretary expressed thanks for Bahrain’s critical role as a transit location as the U.S. military conducted the evacuation and retrograde mission from Afghanistan. Both leaders pledged to continue cooperation on regional security issues going forward.