Washington has announced that it will withdraw “certain forces”, mainly anti-aircraft defense equipment, from the region.
The United States is currently reducing its anti-aircraft defense in the Middle East, after stepping up it in 2019 and 2020 due to tensions with Iran, the Pentagon said on Friday, confirming information from the United States. Wall Street Journal.
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Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, “ordered (…) to withdraw certain forces and capabilities from the region this summer, mainly anti-aircraft defense equipmentPentagon spokeswoman Commander Jessica McNulty said in a statement. “Some of this equipment will be returned to the United States for much needed maintenance and repairs. Others will be redeployed to other regionsShe added. The spokeswoman did not specify whether this equipment would be redeployed in the Indo-Pacific region, where the Pentagon wants to focus its efforts in the face of the rise of China. “We will not give detailsShe noted.
According to Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon began in early June to withdraw eight anti-missile batteries from Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as a THAAD anti-missile shield that had been deployed in Saudi Arabia. Each anti-missile battery requires the presence of several hundred soldiers, and their withdrawal means the departure of thousands of American soldiers from the region.
Return forces if necessary
«We maintain a robust military presence in the region, appropriate given the threat, and we are confident that these changes will not affect our national security interests.», Underlined the spokesperson. “We also maintain the flexibility to quickly return forces to the Middle East if necessary.She added. The United States is currently withdrawing all of its forces from Afghanistan and reduced its military strength in Iraq to 2,500 last year.
Several Patriot batteries had been sent as reinforcements to the region after the assassination in January 2020 of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in an American strike. The THAAD system had been deployed in Saudi Arabia a few months earlier, after air strikes against two strategic oil sites in the Saudi kingdom, attributed to Tehran. Iran is still considered a major threat in the Middle East, but President Joe Biden nevertheless wants the United States to reinstate the Vienna Accord on Iran’s nuclear program.
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