The rising threat posed by Iran in the middle east has the U.S. considering having new forward bases in Saudi Arabia as a precaution. More belligerent actions by Iran are compromising security for U.S. allies there.
America is now facing a more capable Iran that is developing missiles it could lob at U.S. allies. Now, they will need bases that will be used for deterrence.
Iran is becoming an ominous danger
The U.S. Military is considering one Red Seaport located in Saudi Arabia for ships. Another is two extra air force bases in the KSA, with the saber-rattling of Iran getting more noticeable. The report by the Military Times last Tuesday confirmed possible actions in the Middle East.
Military planners call the plans contingency planning should these bases be needed anytime soon. Oil pipelines are located in the terminal in the KSA.
Tabuk and Taif airbases: Their significance
Keeping the Red Sea waterways unhampered is crucial to American allies and American forces to control the region. Airbases at Tabuk and Taif along the Red Sea will be used as launching points for defense or offense against suspected mines and drone boat attacks done by Yemeni Houthi rebels with Iranian support.
The U.S. has no free hand because New Bases in Saudi Arabia (KSA), where Mecca the holiest site in Arabia, will draw extremists' anger if the U.S. military is deployed.
Also read: Israeli F-35s Still Have the Edge Over Emirati F-35s
According to U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban from Central Command, the evaluation of the sites is underway for almost a year. One of the reasons for getting these airbases built is the drone and missile attack of 2019 on a Saudi oil refinery.
The attack results reduce Saudi oil production for a short time and increase oil prices in Iran. But, Tehran says it was not involved in the drone attack instead said the Houthis to credit for the assault. Closer inspection reveals the drones were Iranian in origin.
Urban stated having these contingencies and military planning if there is any conditional or temporary access to such bases for any emergency. One of the goals in this arrangement is not too obvious. For KSA, the U.S. prefers a low profile in the region.
After U.S. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, chief of U.S. Central Command, went to Yanbu last Monday. Press asked Saudi officials what they thought of it but got no comment.
KSA paid for the future U.S. sites
Saudis were the major financiers of these military outposts and their improvements, including King Faisal Air Base in Tabuk, King Fahd Air Base in Taif as major US military facilities in the middle east.
In the 1991 Gulf War, many Arab nations were hosts to the coalition of the U.S. and other countries, joined in kicking Iraq from Kuwait. Next was 2001 in Afghanistan, 2003 the Invasion of Iraq. The U.S. left Saudi Arabia after the 9/11 attacks.
The U.S. Central Command has a headquarters in Qatar, with the 5th Fleet stationed in Bahrain. Establishing New Bases in Saudi Arabia adds more to current forces stationed in the Middle East.
Related article : UAE, Bahrain and Israel Signed Agreement to Re-Establish Ties After a Quarter Century
