A US official said on Sunday that the United States was working to build an “integrated” infrastructure for air and sea defense in the Middle East, at a time of growing tensions with Iran, which is accused of launching attacks on shipping in the waters of the Gulf.
National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk, told the annual “Manama Dialogue” conference in Bahrain that his country is focused on deterring “imminent threats” in the strategic energy-rich region .
“The United States is now actively working to build an integrated sea and air defense architecture in this region,” McGurk said, adding, “Something we’ve talked about for a long time is now being implemented through innovative partnerships and new technologies.”
The commander of US Central Command, General Michael Korella, announced at the conference on Saturday that a US-led naval force will deploy more than 100 unmanned vessels in Gulf waters within the next year to ward off maritime threats.
This came after Israel and the United States blamed Iran for a drone strike off the coast of Oman this week that hit an oil tanker operated by a company owned by an Israeli businessman.
The attack is the latest in a series of unrest in the waters of the Gulf, which are a major route for global energy supplies.
McGurk said US forces “detected and deterred imminent threats” from Iran, confirming previous reports that the Islamic Republic was planning an attack on its regional rival, Saudi Arabia.
He added, “Iran was preparing to launch an attack on Saudi Arabia. This attack is likely not to have happened due to the close security cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States, which is ongoing.”
Israel has conducted an intense diplomatic offensive in recent months to try to persuade the United States and the major European powers not to renew the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and to end the Vienna talks.
“Enough with the sterile talks in Vienna,” Holata said, adding, “The Iranian people also say enough,” as the regime wages a “brutal campaign of repression against its own people,” referring to the protests that have been going on in Iran for 8 weeks.
