May 8 2020
According to The Wall Street Journal US is removing the Patriot antimissile systems from Saudi Arabia and considers reduction to other military capabilities based on assessments by some officials that Tehran no longer poses an immediate threat to American strategic interests.
The U.S. is removing four Patriot missile batteries from Saudi Arabia along with dozens of military personnel sent following a series of attacks on the Saudi oil facilities last year along with two U.S. jet fighter squadrons while considers a reduction soon in the U.S. Navy presence in the Persian Gulf.
This could be interpreted as an act of punishment for the low oil prices. Saudi Arabia have declared that it would flood world oil markets in a quest to regain lost market share and indirectly punish Russia that refused to accept additional production cuts proposed under OPEC.
But the fact is that in early February Greece agreed to sent a Patriot system to Saudi Arabia as US army planed to move them in to Iraq. "The deployment contributes to energy security, promotes our country as a factor of regional stability and strengthens our ties to Saudi Arabia," Petsas, a spokesperson for the Greek government, said. “As a defensive system, this constitutes no threat to other countries in the area" he said, adding that discussions about sending Greek Patriots to Saudi Arabia first began in October 2019, which is not surprising. The month before, unprecedented suicide drone and cruise missile strikes had caused significant damage to Saudi oil infrastructure.
The Greek deployment could be especially beneficial for the United States now, which is looking to deploy Patriot units to Iraq in the aftermath of the Iranian ballistic missile strikes on facilities where U.S. troops are situated in that country on Jan. 7. Those strikes were in retaliation for the U.S. decision to kill Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani outside Baghdad International Airport just days earlier.
No comments:
Post a Comment