President Trump has approved the deployment of U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia that will be defensive in nature, top military officials said Friday.
After meeting with the president, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford informed reporters at the Pentagon about the provision of military support to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Esper said the move had three goals: to send a clear message that the U.S. supports its allies, to protect the free flow of commerce and to uphold international norms. Dunford indicated that the deployment of forces would be moderate — not in the thousands — though he said there were no exact numbers yet.
Trending News
These actions are being taken after Saudi Arabian oil facilities were attacked last week. The Trump administration blames Iran, but President Trump said Friday he does not want to order a military strike at this time.
The defense secretary said that the U.S. does not seek conflict with Iran and urged Iran to cease what he called its “destabilizing abilities.”
The U.S. has concluded the attack on the Saudi oil facilities was carried out with weapons that were produced by Iran and that were not launched from Yemen, as originally claimed.
