US plan to integrate air defense in the Middle East to counter "Iranian threats"
The White House announced that US President Joe Biden, during his trip to the Middle East, is seeking "broader cooperation" in the Middle East on issues such as air defense, especially to counter threats from Iran.
"We will continue our efforts to integrate air defenses across the region," US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
He added: "Because as you know, the entire region has concerns about Iran, its growing missile capabilities. There is no need to talk about their widespread support for terrorism throughout the region."
Mr. Kirby then emphasized that the American delegation would do everything it could to help Washington's allies.
He added that Washington is exploring the idea of integrating the air defenses of these countries, which would be more effective in countering Iranian threats.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported on a secret meeting between US Central Command officials and senior military officials from Israel and Arab countries in Sharm el-Sheikh, the purpose of which was to discuss ways to counter Iranian missile and drone threats.
The report stated that CENTCOM officials had a secret meeting with officials from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan on this matter, which was unprecedented given the mix of participating countries.
The Wall Street Journal report raised the possibility that Joe Biden would hold talks on the issue during his upcoming trip to the Middle East, although US Central Command declined to confirm the report at the time, saying only that CENTCOM “remains firmly committed to increasing regional cooperation and developing an integrated air and missile defense architecture to protect our forces and our regional partners.”
Source: Radio Farda
