US Plan to Integrate Air Defense in Middle East to Counter ‘Iran Threats’
The White House announced that Joe Biden, President of the United States, is seeking “broader cooperation” in the Middle East during his trip to the region on issues such as air defense, particularly to counter Iranian threats.
John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, said on Thursday: “We will continue our efforts to integrate air defense across the region.”
He added: “Because as you know, the entire region has concerns about Iran and its growing missile capabilities. We need not even mention their broad support for terrorism across the region.”
Mr. Kirby then emphasized that the U.S. delegation is doing everything it can to assist Washington’s allies.
He added that Washington is examining the idea of air defense integration among these countries, which would provide greater effectiveness in countering Iranian threats.
Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported on a confidential meeting between U.S. Central Command officials and senior military officials from Israel and Arab countries in Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss ways to counter Iranian missile and drone threats.
The report indicated that CENTCOM officials held a confidential meeting with officials from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan on this matter, which was unprecedented given the composition of participating countries.
The Wall Street Journal report strengthened the possibility that Joe Biden would hold discussions on this topic during his upcoming trip to the Middle East, although U.S. Central Command at that time refrained from confirming the report and merely stated that CENTCOM “will remain steadfastly committed to increasing regional cooperation and developing an integrated architecture of air and missile defense to protect its forces and regional partners.”
Source: Radio Farda
