Missile defense in the Gulf
The U.S. is quietly increasing its presence in the Gulf and speeding up arms sales to several Gulf Arab states against a potential Iranian strike in advance of increased sanctions against Iran. The U.S. Navy has been deployed to key strategic areas where they will be capable of knocking hostile missiles down in flight to the region. U.S. officials have let it be known that it now has Patriot batteries in four Gulf states – Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. These moves are designed to deter Iran from launching attacks against its Sunni Muslim neighbors and to send a message to Israel that a preemptive strike against Iran is unnecessary. From the BBC:
The U.S. position on Iran was delicately summed up on 7 January by Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “I believe they’re on a path that has a strategic intent to develop nuclear weapons, and have been for some time. I think that outcome is potentially a very, very destabilizing outcome. On the other hand, when asked about striking Iran, specifically, that also has a very, very destabilizing outcome.”
This defensive measure is seen as an adjustment in the U.S. approach since the failure to engage the Iranians diplomatically has not yielded any results. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters last week that the U.S. will now press for additional sanctions against the Iranian government. Listen to an excerpt from Secretary Clinton on Power and Persuation: A Conversation with Secretaries Clinton and Gates with Frank Sesno and Christiane Amanpour on Iranian nuclear ambitions:
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