U.S. bolsters Saudi defense against Iran with jets, missiles

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is deploying dozens more fighter jets and additional air defenses to Saudi Arabia, beefing up efforts to defend the kingdom against Iran even as President Donald Trump repeatedly insists that America must get out of endless Middle East wars.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced the deployments Friday just hours after Iran said two missiles struck one of its oil tankers traveling through the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia. The Pentagon moves are part of a broader response to the suspected Iranian missile and drone attack on Saudi oil facilities on Sept. 14.

The heightened tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have led the U.S. to pour about 14,000 more U.S. troops into the region since May, including additional ships to maintain maritime security in the Persian Gulf area.

The decision underscores the complexities of America’s Middle East policies that struggle to align Trump’s desire to pull troops out of the region with what have been persistent threats from Iran and a volatile military operation against Islamic State militants in Syria.

“From the first day I entered the political arena, I made it clear that I did not want to fight these endless, senseless wars,” Trump has said.

Esper said the decision followed discussions with the Saudi minister of defense about the country’s defensive capabilities.

“Saudi Arabia is a longstanding security partner in the Middle East and has asked for additional support to supplement their own defense and defend the international rules-based order,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.

Brian Hook, the special U.S. envoy for Iran, told reporters at the State Department that the decision to send additional forces to Saudi Arabia had been arrived at after weeks of consultations with Saudi officials and others in the region, including in meetings in Washington with Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister.

Hook rejected suggestions that sending the additional troops contradicted Trump’s broader goal of withdrawing U.S. forces from the Middle East. He said the deployment was defensive in nature and designed to send Iran a message, and those goals are separate from the desire to end U.S. involvement in endless wars.