DUBAI, UAE – The US military is exploring the possibility of using a Red Sea port in Saudi Arabia and two other airfields in the kingdom amid heightened tensions with Iran, the military said on Tuesday.
While describing the work as “emergency” planning, the US military said it had already tested the unloading and dispatch of goods by land from the Saudi Arabian port of Yanbu, a crucial terminal for the kingdom’s oil pipelines.
Using 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 by me and rebel drone boats. Houthi, supported by Iran.
However, the announcement comes as Saudi-American relations remain strained by the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the ongoing war of the kingdom in Yemen in the early days of President Joe Biden’s administration. The deployment – even temporary – of American troops in the bases of the kingdom, which hosts the holy Muslim city of Mecca, could rekindle anger among extremists.
US Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for Central Command, said the site assessment had been going on for more than a year, triggered by the September 2019 drone and missile attack on the heart of the Saudi oil industry.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have blamed the attack, which has temporarily halved Saudi oil production and boosted oil prices in Iran. Tehran has denied involvement, and the Houthis have backed the attack, although the drones involved appear to have been manufactured by Iran.
“These are prudent military planning measures that allow temporary or conditional access to facilities in the event of an emergency and are not challenging in any way and do not constitute an extension of the US footprint in the region, in general or in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in special “, wrote Urban.
Frank McKenzie, the head of the US headquarters, visited Yanbu on Monday. Defense One and the Wall Street Journal, who traveled with McKenzie to Yanbu, first reported on American planning. Saudi officials did not respond to Tuesday’s request for comment.
Already, Saudi Arabia has paid for site improvements and is considering more, Urban said. Tabuk hosts King Faisal Air Force Base, while Taif hosts King Fahd Air Base.
The Arab Gulf states are home to a wide range of US military bases, the legacy of the 1991 Gulf War that saw US allies expel Iraq from Kuwait and the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. America withdrew its forces from Arabia. Saudi Arabia after the September 11 attacks. Osama bin Laden cited their deployment in his attacks on the United States
The US Central Command is already headquartered in Qatar. The US Navy’s 5th Fleet operates from the kingdom of Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait hosts the headquarters of the US Army Central, while the United Arab Emirates hosts American aviators and sailors.
Also, these locations do not include the presence of American troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Former President Donald Trump has also deployed the first troops to Saudi Arabia since September 11, due to concerns about Iran. About 2,500 U.S. soldiers now use Patriot fighter jets and missile batteries at Prince Sultan Air Force Base, southeast of Riyadh.
The addition of these Saudi locations appears to be part of what McKenzie previously described to the U.S. Congress as the “Western Support Network,” a new logistics system designed to avoid maritime hotspots, said Becca Wasser, a colleague at the Washington Center. new American security.
These locations probably would not have permanent stations and could allow the US to pull forces to other bases through this flexibility, she said.
“If we try to have a flexible position in which we are not tied to permanent bases, … you will have to support it with a logistics network that can ensure that you can move in people and weapons, as needed,” said Wasser.
Such contingency plans already exist in the Middle East, such as agreements granting US forces the right to use bases in Oman in certain circumstances. But the west coast of Saudi Arabia also offers 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 contested waters in any scenario of armed conflict with Iran, so you look at the places where you would move your forces when they enter the theater so as not to be in a disputed area,” McKenzie told reporters Yanbu.
For Iran, additional bases are likely to increase the suspicions of its theocratic government. Tensions between Iran and the US remain high after Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, leading to a series of growing clashes.
Alireza Miryousefi, spokeswoman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations, criticized the US approach, calling the presence of foreign troops in the Middle East “one of the main reasons for the chaotic situation and insecurity in our region.”
“Any ‘conflict contingency’ with Iran would only make sense if another country intends to attack Iran and we are determined to defend ourselves if we are attacked,” Miryousefi said.
It remains unclear what Biden’s relationship with Saudi Arabia will be like during his presidency. During the campaign, Biden referred to the kingdom as an “outcast” for Khashoggi’s assassination.
However, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states remain top customers for US armaments and rely on the United States to ensure the free flow of oil and goods through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Riyadh also suffered a mysterious airstrike on Saturday, which the US State Department, led by Biden, condemned as “an attempt to target civilians”. It remains unclear whether it was a rocket or a drone used in the attack.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who had previously targeted Riyadh, denied involvement, although the Arab Gulf countries blamed the rebels’ attacks. A previously unheard of group, called the “True Promise Brigade,” said it carried out the “terror drone” attack without providing any evidence to support its claim.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.