WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration announced Friday it is resuming some arms shipments to Bahrain after most were suspended last year because of a government crackdown on political dissent.

The State Department said the administration still has human rights concerns about the strategic Persian Gulf island nation and will work with the government to improve the situation. But it said it is releasing the military aid because it is in U.S. national interests and is necessary for the defense of Bahrain, which is host to the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet.

“Bahrain is an important security partner and ally in a region facing enormous challenges,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. Maintaining the ability to respond to such challenges is a critical part of the U.S. commitment to Gulf security, she said.

She said the administration is “mindful” of “serious unresolved human rights issues,” and that holds imposed on the transfer of some items, such as TOW anti-tank missiles and Humvees, would continue.

She stressed that items being released are not used for crowd control and that the U.S. remains concerned about excessive use of force and tear gas against opposition activists.

The announcement followed meetings in Washington this week between Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bahrain Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

But it also came as Bahraini riot police on Friday fired tear gas and stun grenades during clashes with anti-government protesters following a rally calling for the release of detained activists, according to witnesses.

At least 50 people have died amid Bahrain’s unrest since it began in February 2011.

Nuland praised Bahrain’s government for taking “some important steps” to follow through on recommendations made by a special commission created to look into the violence.

But she added that much more work must be done to ease increasing polarization between majority Shiites and the ruling Sunni monarchy. And she lamented that some protestors were resorting to violence.

“We urge all sides to work together to end the violence and refrain from incitement of any kind, including attacks on peaceful protestors or on the Bahraini police,” Nuland said.

KOLKATA, India (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday she has no desire to make another run for the White House but hopes to see an American woman president in her lifetime.

Politely turning aside questions about her political intentions at a town hall event in Kolkata, Clinton said she really wanted to see “that final glass ceiling” broken.

Clinton, who sought the Democratic nomination four years ago and barely lost to Barack Obama, noted that the American political process is difficult and heavily dependent on fund raising, which makes it hard for any candidate to succeed.

Still, she told her audience, “I think that there will be an election that will elect a woman.”

As for herself, she says she is done with the political high wire and looks forward to life as a private citizen.

“I would like to come back to India and just wander around without the streets being closed,” she said. “I just want to get back to taking some deep breaths, feeling that there are other ways i can continue to serve.”

KOLKATA, India (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging energy-starved India to reduce the oil it imports from Iran to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program.

Clinton told a town hall meeting in the eastern city of Kolkata on Monday that there’s an adequate supply in the market for India to find alternative sources of oil. Clinton noted that India has taken some steps to reduce its imports from Iran but she says the U.S. wants to see more.

India could face U.S. sanctions by the end of June if the Obama administration determines it has not made significant cuts in imports under a law aimed at squeezing Iran’s petroleum industry to press the country to prove its nuclear program is peaceful.

KOLKATA, India (AP) — Urging India to reduce the oil it imports from Iran tops U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s agenda as she starts two days of talks with Indian officials.

India has huge energy needs to fuel its rapid growth but has made some progress in easing its dependence on Iranian oil. A senior official traveling with Clinton in Asia said the United States wants to see more.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Clinton’s private discussions in Kolkata and New Delhi, said the “trend lines are good” but “we really need to receive assurances that they are going to continue to make good progress.”

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging the government of Bangladesh not to do anything that could undermine the effectiveness of the internationally acclaimed Grameen Bank micro-lender.

Clinton told a town hall audience in the Bangladeshi capital on Sunday that the pioneering bank founded by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus is a “tremendous” model for the developing world and that its structure should not be tinkered with. A search for a new bank chief is now underway since the government ousted Yunus last year.

Clinton is a personal friend of Yunus and met with him for about 45 minutes before the town hall. She met on Saturday with Bangladesh’s feuding prime minister and main opposition leader.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A senior U.S. official says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will use a two-day visit to India this week to urge further reductions in Indian imports of Iranian oil.

The official traveling with Clinton in Bangladesh ahead of her arrival in India on Sunday says the matter will be at the top of the secretary’s agenda in talks with Indian leaders.

India, which has tremendous energy needs to fuel its rapid growth, has made some progress in easing its dependence on Iranian oil, but the official said the U.S. wants to see more.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Clinton’s private discussions.