The US is building defense systems in the Middle East to deter ‘threats’: it’s official

The United States is boosting defense infrastructure in the Middle East amid tensions with Iran, which is likely to abandon the plan attack Saudi Arabia because of security ties, a US official said on Sunday.

Brett McGurkNational Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, told the annual Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain that his country is focused on deterring “imminent threats” in a strategic energy-rich and conflict-ridden region.

“The United States is now actively building and creating an integrated air and sea defense architecture in this region,” said McGurk, the White House’s top Middle East representative.

“What has been talked about for a long time is now being done through innovative partnerships and new technologies,” he added, without elaborating.

On Saturday, the head of the US Central Command, Gen Mikhail Kurila announced during the same conference that a US-led task force will deploy more than 100 unmanned vessels in strategic waters of the Persian Gulf region by next year to prevent threats at sea.

The announcements came after Israel and the US accused Iran of a drone off the coast of Oman crashed into a tanker owned by an Israeli firm last week.

The attack that coincided with v tensions between Tehran and Washington increasedbecame the latest in a series of disruptions in the waters of the Persian Gulf, which are a major route for global energy supplies.

McGurk said US forces had “detected and contained imminent threats” from Iran, confirming earlier reports that the Islamic Republic was planning an attack on its regional rival Saudi Arabia.

“That attack probably didn’t happen because of close security cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the US, which is ongoing and uninterrupted,” he explained.

Speaking at the same session, Israel’s national security adviser Eyal Khulata described Iran as “the most important threat to Israel’s security.”

Israel lobbied the US and major European powers to abandon attempts to restore a The 2015 Tehran Accord over its nuclear program.

Negotiations on this deal have reached an impasse.

“Enough with the useless talk in Vienna,” Khulata said, adding that “even the people of Iran are saying enough is enough” as it begins “harsh repression against its own people.”

He was referring to two months of nationwide protests that have been the biggest challenge to Iran’s clerical regime since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.