MANAMA, BAHRAIN (Sept. 18, 2021) Marines and Sailors assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), salute His Excellency Dr. Abdulatif Bin Rahed Al Zayani, the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs, during a visit to the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) in honor of Israel's first official visit to Bahrain since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020. The Essex Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jaxson Fryar)