A senior US administration official said on Thursday that there was still no framework for an integrated Middle East air and missile defense system, but that the United States believed there was potential for a multilateral regional approach to security. .
U.S. President Joe Biden raised the issue during a visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, where he held a summit with leaders of nine Arab states after a trip to Israel, but left without public Arab support for a security axis. regional.
“It’s an idea now, there’s no framework for it, but it was important for the president to raise the issue of better integrated regional air and missile defense,” said the administration official, who declined to be named.
“We think that, particularly given the growing threat from Iran’s ballistic missiles, there is great promise here in having a more networked, more integrated and more cooperative approach to air missile defense.”
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were frustrated with US conditions on arms sales. The two countries were also angered by their exclusion from indirect US-Iran talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear pact they see as flawed for failing to address Iran’s missile program and regional behavior.
Israel, which shares its concern for Iran, has encouraged Biden’s trip to Jeddah, hoping it will promote a warm-up between Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of a broader Arab rapprochement after the UAE and Bahrain forged ties with Israel. .
During the trip, Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its airspace to all air carriers, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel. The Saudi foreign minister later said that this was not a precursor to further steps and that he was not aware of any discussions of a defense alliance between the Gulf and Israel.
Iran has accused Washington of using “iranophobia” to create regional tension during Biden’s visit.
Source: CNN Brasil
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