Trump seeks to revive "Arab NATO" to deal with Iran

The hope of the administration is that the effort, tentatively known as the Strategic Alliance of the Middle East (MESA), could be discussed at a public meeting. tentatively scheduled for Washington on October 12 and 13, according to several sources.

confirmed that he was working on the concept of alliance with "our regional partners now and for several months."

Saudi authorities have raised the idea of ​​a security pact before a Trump visit last year to Saudi Arabia where he announced a US source said the proposals of the Alliance were not launched,

. Sources from some of the Arab countries involved also said that they were aware of the renewed efforts to activate the plan. "The MESA will serve as a bulwark against the Iranian aggression, terrorism and extremism, and bring stability to the Middle East," said a spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House. The spokesman declined to confirm that Trump would hold a summit on those dates and sources have warned that it remains uncertain whether the security plan will be finalized by mid-October.

Similar initiatives by previous US administrations to develop a Washington, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi accuse Iran of destabilizing the region, causing unrest in some Arab countries through lobbies and threatening more in addition Israel.

focus on the heavyweights of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates working more closely with the Trump administration to deal with Iran. [19659002] It is unclear how the alliance could immediately counter Tehran, but the Trump administration and its Sunni Muslim allies have common interests in the conflicts in Yemen and Syria and defend the Gulf's sea lanes in which a large part of the oil is shipped. 19659002] A senior Iranian official told Reuters that "under the pretext of ensuring stability in the Middle East, the Americans and their regional allies are fomenting tensions in the region." He said the approach would have "no results" beyond "deepening the gaps between Iran, its regional allies and the Arab countries backed by the United States. "

A huge obstacle to the planned alliance is a 13-month rift. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Qatar, home to the largest US air base in the region, accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, he denies.

According to a source, the administration could be a hindrance to the initiative, he and an Arab official both said that Riyadh and Abu Dhabi had badured Washington that the flaw would not pose a problem to l & # 39; alliance.

The NSC spokesman denied that the flaw was an obstacle. In America first, the White House is eager to see US allies bear more burden in the face of regional security threats.

The UAE is ready to deploy more troops across the Middle East to counter its enemies can no longer rely on Western allies such as the United States and Britain, the United Arab Emirates Minister said on Thursday Anwar Gargash.

The establishment of a regional missile shield, which the United States and the Gulf countries have discussed for years without result, would be an objective for the alliance, said a source close of the plan, as well as a training to improve the tension with Iran has increased since Trump announced in May that the US was pulling out of an international agreement of 2015 to limit the ambitions Tehran.

On Monday, Iran rejected Trump's warning that he risked dire consequences "which few people throughout history have suffered before" if she made threats against the United States.

(Additional report by Phil Stewart in Washington, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai and Parisa Hafezi in Ankara Edition by Alistair Bell) (+1 [email protected]; +1 202 310 5660; Reuters Messaging: warren.strobel [email protected]))