The United States will send military support to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following last week’s attack on oil facilities there, which Washington has blamed on Iran.
The announcement comes after President Donald Trump said his country was “locked and loaded” to respond to attacks that inflicted serious damage on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure.
The Pentagon said the deployment would involve a moderate number of troops and would be primarily defensive in nature.
US Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the deployment would not reach thousands of people but he declined to be more specific.
A total of 25 drones and missiles were launched at two oil plants in last weekend’s strikes, including Iranian Delta Wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and “Ya Ali” cruise missiles, Saudi Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki told a press conference last week.
“The attack was launched from the north and unquestionably sponsored by Iran,” he said.
United States Defence Secretary Mark Esper says this new deployment was a first step, and did not rule out additional moves down the road.
He said it was a response to requests from the Saudis and the UAE to help improve their air and missile defences.
Mr Esper and General Dunford said details of the deployments would be determined over the coming days.
More to come.
-with agencies
The post Trump to send US military support to Middle East after attacks on oil facilities appeared first on The New Daily.
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