DUBAI, UAE – The U.S. military is exploring the possibility of using a Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia and two additional airfields in the kingdom amid tensions with Iran, it said. Tuesday the army.
While describing the work as “contingency” planning, the U.S. military said it has already tried unloading and sending cargo by land from the port of Saudi Arabia to Yanbu, a crucial terminal. for the pipelines of the kingdom.
The use of Yanbu, as well as Tabuk and Taif air bases along the Red Sea, would give the U.S. military more options along a crucial waterway that has been attacked by suspected attacks. mines and ships with drones by Houthi rebels with Iranian support from Yemen.
However, the announcement comes as Saudi-American relations continue to be strained by the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the kingdom’s war in Yemen in the early days of President Joe Biden’s administration. Deploying, even temporarily, American troops to the bases of the kingdom, which is home to the Muslim holy city of Mecca, could rekindle anger among extremists.
U.S. Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for Central Command, said the assessment of the sites more than a year ago was sparked by the September 2019 drone and missile attack at the heart of the industry. Saudi oil company.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have blamed the attack, which has halved Saudi oil production and seen rising oil prices in Iran. Tehran has denied any involvement and the Houthis called for the assault, although the drones involved appear to be of Iranian manufacture.
“These are prudent military planning measures that allow temporary or conditional access to facilities in the event of a contingency, and are not provocative in any way, nor are they an expansion of the U.S. footprint in the region, in general or in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in particular, ”Urban wrote.
U.S. Navy General Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, visited Yanbu on Monday. Defense One and the Wall Street Journal, who traveled with McKenzie to Yanbu, first reported on U.S. planning. Saudi officials did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Already, Saudi Arabia has paid for improvements to the sites and is considering more, Urban said. Tabuk hosts King Faisal Air Base, while Taif hosts King Fahd Air Base.
The Arab Gulf states are home to a wide range of U.S. military bases, the legacy of the 1991 Gulf War that saw U.S. Allied forces drive Iraq out of Kuwait and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United States withdrew its forces from Saudi Arabia after the 9/11 attacks. Osama bin Laden had cited his deployment in his attacks on the US
The United States Central Command already has a headquarters in Qatar. The U.S. Navy’s fifth fleet operates from the island kingdom of Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait is home to the U.S. Army headquarters, while the United Arab Emirates is home to U.S. aviators and sailors.
These places also do not include the presence of American troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Former President Donald Trump also deployed first troops to Saudi Arabia since 9/11 over concerns about Iran. Some 2,500 U.S. troops currently operate fighter jets and Patriot missile batteries at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in southeastern Riyadh.
The addition of these Saudi locations appears to be part of what McKenzie previously described in the U.S. Congress as the “Western Sustainability Network,” a new logistics system designed to avoid maritime transit points, said Becca Wasser, a member of the Washington-based Center a new American security.
These locations would likely not have permanently stationed troops and could allow the U.S. to withdraw forces at other bases through that flexibility, he said.
“If we try to have a flexible stance where we are not tied to permanent bases, … it will have to support it with a logistics network that can make sure it can flow in people and weapons as needed.” Wasser said.
Such contingency plans already exist in the Middle East, such as agreements granting U.S. forces the right to use bases in Oman under certain circumstances. But the west coast of Saudi Arabia also provides an additional distance from Iran, which has invested heavily in ballistic missiles, as sanctions have blocked it from global arms sales.
The Persian Gulf “would be disputed waters in any scenario of armed conflict with Iran, so look at the places where you would move your forces when they enter the theater so that they are not in a disputed area,” McKenzie told reporters. Yanbu.
For Iran, additional bases will likely increase the suspicions of its theocratic government. Tensions between Iran and the United States remain high after Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, prompting an escalation of confrontations.
Alireza Miryousefi, a spokeswoman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, criticized the U.S. measure and called the presence of foreign troops in the Middle East “one of the main reasons for the chaotic situation and insecurity in the Middle East.” our region “.
“Any ‘conflict contingency’ with Iran would only make sense if another country intended to attack Iran and we are determined to defend ourselves if we are attacked,” Miryousefi said.
It is still unclear what Biden’s relationship with Saudi Arabia will be like during his presidency. While campaigning, Biden referred to the kingdom as a “pariah” for Khashoggi’s assassination.
However, Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states remain the main customers of US armaments and rely on the US to ensure the free flow of oil and goods across the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Riyadh also suffered a mysterious airstrike on Saturday that the US State Department headed by Biden condemned as “an attempt to target civilians”. It is still unclear whether it was a missile or a drone used in the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who had previously headed to Riyadh, denied being involved, although the Arab Gulf countries blamed the assault on the rebels. An unprecedented group called the “True Promise Brigade” said it carried out the attack with “terror drones”, without offering evidence to support its claim.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.