More troops to Saudi Arabia
‘Moderate deployment’ of US forces comes in wake of attacks
WASHINGTON — In a muted military response to last week’s attack on Saudi oil facilities, President Donald Trump has approved deployment of additional U.S. troops and air defense assets to Saudi Arabia.
At a news conference late Friday following a White House meeting with Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper emphasized that the deployments were defensive in nature, and in response to requests from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help protect “critical infrastructure” from further attacks by Iran.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said that what he characterized as a “moderate deployment,” numbering in the hundreds, will be in addition to any forces and equipment the United States is asking other allies to contribute.
He said the military will determine the exact composition of the new forces, the second time in recent months that the United States has boosted troops in
the region in response to Iranian actions.
Esper said that it was clear that the drones and cruise missiles used in the Sept. 14 attack against two Saudi oil installations “were Iranian produced and were not launched from Yemen” as Iranian-backed Houthi rebels there initially claimed. Iran has denied responsibility.
Asked if further, offensive action was contemplated, Esper demurred, saying “this is the first step we’re taking.” U.S. military officials, concerned that the situation has the potential to escalate, said they were seeking to ensure that the response took a diplomatic path, or at least paired any military actions with diplomacy.
Earlier in the day, Trump indicated that he is content for now not to retaliate militarily against Iran, but to increase economic and diplomatic pressure.
“I think I’m showing great restraint,” Trump said, acknowledging he has gotten conflicting advice on what to do.
The administration hopes to use next week’s United Nations General Assembly to seek support for an increase in global pressure in the wake of the attacks, especially by European allies who until now have appealed to Trump not to undercut their efforts to salvage the Iran nuclear deal he withdrew from last year.
At least one U.S. ally sounded relieved at Trump’s apparent restraint. Visiting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, standing at the president’s side during their joint news conference, praised Trump’s “calibrated, very measured response.”
Their remarks came after Trump announced a new round of sanctions against Iran, targeting its central bank and sovereign wealth fund. “We’ve now cut off all source of funds to Iran,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
While the sanctions against the wealth fund are new — and potentially freeze tens of billions of dollars in Iranian assets held or invested overseas — the central bank sanctions largely duplicate existing measures. In both cases, they prohibit U.S. and foreign entities and individuals using U.S. financial institutions from engaging in transactions with the Iranian institutions.
In Tehran, the top military aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that any U.S. aggression against Iran would “throw the region into turmoil,” Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported. Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi said that “the Islamic Republic has turned into a major and invincible power in West Asia and if the Americans are planning any plots ... Iran will not leave them unanswered.”
John Bolton, the national security adviser Trump fired last week, is an advocate of regime change in Iran and had clashed with Trump, among other issues, when the president began mulling a possible softening of sanctions as an incentive for the Iranians to negotiate with him.
But any thought of reduced sanctions, as well as a possible Trump meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, disappeared with the Sept. 14 strike in Saudi Arabia.