Thousands of U.S. Troops to Be Deployed to Saudi Arabia
The United States is deploying an additional 2,800 U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of Iran’s attack on Saudi oil facilities in September, the Pentagon announced on Friday. The deployment includes fighter squadrons, early detection aircraft, and air defense systems.
The new forces will join the 200 American service members that are part of the Patriot air defense battery and radars sent to Saudi Arabia in late September in response to the Sept. 14 attack that the United States blames on Iran.
“[Defense] Secretary Esper informed Saudi Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Muhammad bin Salman this morning of the additional troop deployment to assure and enhance the defense of Saudi Arabia,” said Chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman in a statement on Friday. “Taken together with other deployments, this constitutes an additional 3,000 forces that have been extended or authorized within the last month.”
“We have been concerned, based on what we hear from partners and allies in the region, about continued Iranian behavior,” Esper said at a Pentagon news conference on Friday.
“There are things that we pick up, if you will through intelligence, that we thought it was important to deploy forces to deter and defend and to send the message to the Iranians do not strike another sovereign state,” he added. (Read more from “Thousands of U.S. Troops to Be Deployed to Saudi Arabia” HERE)
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