Iran responsible for instability in Middle East: US CENTCOM Chief -

Riyadh: As the Biden administration is desperate to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, US security agencies are issuing fresh warnings about Iran. ‘Iran is one of the leading destabilising countries in the Middle East. Under no circumstances will the United States allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. General Erik Kurilla, the head of US Central Command (CENTCOM). He also said that he was visiting Saudi Arabia and Egypt to understand the position of these US allies.

Last month, General Erik Kurilla, who took over responsibility for US Central Command (CENTCOM), began a tour of Arab allies in the Middle East. After launching it from Saudi Arabia, General Kurilla visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt for talks with the Heads of State. Arab allies are angry with the United States over the Biden administration’s insistence on a nuclear deal with Iran.

At the same time, the Biden administration reduced the US military presence in the Middle East, including in Saudi Arabia. The Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have carried out attacks on Saudi-UAE capitals, have also been dropped from terrorist organisations. This stand of the Biden administration has created distrust of the United States in the Arab world.

Leaders of Saudi Arabia and UAE have reportedly avoided responding to a call from US President Biden. Saudi-UAE also rejected President Biden’s call for increased fuel production for European countries facing a severe fuel crisis given the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The media had claimed that this led to sharp differences between the US and Arab countries. The conflict in Ukraine is protracted and Russia has also taken steps to cut off fuel supplies to European countries.

In such a scenario, the Biden administration has begun efforts to appease the Arab allies. General Kurilla’s visits to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt seem to be a part of these efforts. Speaking to Middle East News, General Kurilla targeted Iran. ‘Iran is a destabilising factor in the Middle East and the United States will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons’, he said.

But in the next sentence, General Kurilla claimed that the US concern about Iran was beyond the country’s nuclear capability. Gen. Kurilla said the United States was concerned about Iran’s ballistic missile program and the activities of Iranian-linked terrorist groups in the Middle East. He called on the US allies in the Middle East to work together with the United States to end the threat posed by Iran.

But the head of CENTCOM, speaking to Arab News, acknowledged that relations between the United States and the Middle East have become strained. He further added that the Arab League was concerned about the US commitment to the Middle East. Therefore, while the CENTCOM chief has begun his Middle East tour underlining the threat posed by Iran, it still seems to have received very little response from Arab allies.