The Supreme Defense Council (SDC) (Arabic:مجلس الدفاع الأعلى) is Bahrain's highest defense authority responsible for making highest level of decisions regarding defense and security. It consist of 14 members, all of whom are drawn from the Al Khalifa ruling family.[1]
It is headed by the King, who is also the Supreme Commander of Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) and includes: the Crown Prince (king's eldest son), the Prime Minister (king's uncle), the Royal Court Minister and ten senior officials from the Al Khalifa family[2] such as the Commander-in-Chief of BDF, and the heads of certain government agencies, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, Minister of Defence and Director of the National Security Agency (NSA).[3]: 16
Meetings are usually held at Al-Sakhir Palace.[4]