United States sends troops to Saudi Arabia | Grow …

The United States will deploy soldiers to Saudi Arabia in the context of growing tensions with Iran, which fears a conflict. With this measure the allies aim to provide stability in the turbulent Gulf region, as it might be read in separate statements presented by Ryad, capital of Saudi Arabia, and the US Central Military Command (Centcom).

US media reported that 500 soldiers would be stationed at Prince Sultan Air Force Base, south of the Saudi capital, without revealing the number of soldiers to deploy in the kingdom, located about 200 kilometers from the Iranian coast. This announcement comes a day after the Iranian armed forces announced the confiscation of a British oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Ormuz in the Gulf, where a third of the oil sold by sea pbades, which increases the conflict forecasts. .

"Based on the mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States and in its desire to strengthen all that can preserve the security of the region and its stability, King Salman has agreed to house US forces," said the Saudi Ministry of Defense. "For the United States, the deployment will further deter and reinforce our ability to defend our troops and interests in the region against emerging and credible threats," he added.

"King Salman has agreed to house US forces to increase the level of mutual cooperation to preserve the security of the region and its stability, as well as to guarantee peace," said a spokesman for the ministry. Saudi Arabian Defense, quoted by the government intelligence agency SPA. .

Friday, the tension has increased again in the Gulf region. Iran has announced the confiscation of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz for "failing to comply with the international maritime code". A few hours earlier, Trump had announced that an American ship, the USS Boxer, had shot down an Iranian UAV in the Gulf that was dangerously close to the ship. "His drone is too close to our boat, and if the drones get too close, we'll overthrow them," he said.

From Iran, they denied that the drone belonged to their armed forces. In fact, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Abas Araqchi, has redoubled the bet by saying that the US government may have shot down one of its drones.

Relations between Iran and the United States deteriorated sharply in May 2018, when US President Donald Trump withdrew from the international agreement on the Iranian nuclear program signed in 2015 and reimposed severe sanctions against the Asian country. This agreement signed between Tehran and the Group of Six (China, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany and the United States), after several years of efforts, provided for a limitation of the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of the international sanctions that suffocated. your economy In response to the abandonment of the North American government's agreement, Iran has also begun to gradually violate some of its commitments, thus seeking to compel its partners to save the pact.

In addition, Trump and his ally, Saudi Arabia, have accused Iran of attacking oil tankers and drones in the Gulf since last May. Since the Pentagon, they announced their intention to form an international coalition to escort merchant ships in the Gulf. Iran has denied the charges and threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in case of an attack.

The last time Saudi Arabia has hosted US soldiers, it was in 2003, when they withdrew after the end of the war against Iraq. Ryad has hosted US forces for 12 years, mainly the air force, since the operation "Desert Storm" in 1991, during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and up to the end of the war. the end of the 2003 war, during which Saddam Hussein was ousted.

At the base of Prince Sultan, about 80 km south of Riyadh, 200 American planes were stationed at the height of operations during the war in Iraq. Every day, more than 2,700 missions are managed from Saudi Arabia's headquarters. Unlike the presence of the US military, they trained their Saudi counterparts.

However, the relations between the two countries during these 12 years of cooperation have not always been good, especially after the attacks of 11 September in the United States, orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, of Saudi origin.

The Trump administration has been criticized in its country for its limited efforts to punish Saudi Arabia, following the badbadination last year of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. Trump has repeatedly praised the powerful Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister of the Kingdom, Mohamed bin Salman.

Centcom Chief Kenneth McKenzie is committed to working energetically to ensure maritime safety in the strategic waters of the Gulf during a trip that he made Thursday at Prince Sultan Air Base. . This visit took place after the United States House of Representatives voted in favor of a $ 8.1 billion arms sales blockade to the kingdom and to the United States. Other allies, on which Vetus will probably veto.

According to badysts, the deployment aims to strengthen ties between Washington and Riyadh, particularly the deterioration of military relations. "These troops are here to prepare the Prince Sultan Air Base for the possible deployment of an air squadron," said badyst Andreas Krieg, a professor at King's College London. "The United States is trying to increase its military options in the event of an attack on Iran." The Crown Prince wants to show that the United States continues to be an important security guarantor and is committed to Saudi security, "said Krieg.

"The Saudis are saying to Washington: if they stay with us, we will stay with you," says James Dorsey, a researcher at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. "Americans are trying to say, we support them," he adds.