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SAUDI ARABIA, U.S. DISCUSS MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM AGAINST IRAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 31, 2012 - 11:05 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Obama administration is seeking to advance
talks among Saudi Arabia and its neighbors on a missile defense
system against Iran, while slowing any plans among Arab Gulf states
to intervene militarily in Syria.
According to AP, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met
for almost two hours with Saudi King Abdullah on Friday, March 30
conferring on regional military strategy and how to increase oil
sanctions against Iran while ensuring ample global petroleum supplies.
Governments are under pressure to reduce purchases of Iranian crude,
and the U.S. hopes Saudi supplies can ease the transition.
The talks are occurring amid increased international concern over
Iran's uranium enrichment activity and speculation that military
action by the U.S. or Israel may occur. The U.S., Israel and some
Arab countries accuse Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, but
the Islamic republic insists its program is solely for peaceful energy
and research purposes.
In Washington, President Barack Obama said Friday he was plowing
ahead with potential sanctions against countries that keep buying
oil from Iran, including U.S. allies, in the deepening campaign to
starve Iran of money for its nuclear program. The world oil market
is tight but deep enough to keep the squeeze on Iran, Obama said.
U.S. officials didn't provide all the details of Clinton's meeting
with Abdullah, which included an hour when the two spoke privately
without any aides present. They expressed a shared commitment to a
stable international oil market, senior State Department officials
said, outlining the discussions on condition of anonymity.
America's top diplomat and the Saudi monarch also discussed
coordination among the Arab Gulf states on how to unite their defensive
capacities into a cohesive regional strategy. Despite sensing a shared
threat from Shiite power Iran, wide technical and political divisions
separate the Sunni countries, which span the oil-rich kingdoms of
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to impoverished Yemen.
The United States is already planning to sell defensive missile
technology to the UAE, which along with Saudi Arabia ranks among the
more advanced militarily. But Washington wants the big and small Gulf
governments to reconcile their distrust of each other and develop a
united long-term missile defense architecture.
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 31, 2012 - 11:05 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The Obama administration is seeking to advance
talks among Saudi Arabia and its neighbors on a missile defense
system against Iran, while slowing any plans among Arab Gulf states
to intervene militarily in Syria.
According to AP, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met
for almost two hours with Saudi King Abdullah on Friday, March 30
conferring on regional military strategy and how to increase oil
sanctions against Iran while ensuring ample global petroleum supplies.
Governments are under pressure to reduce purchases of Iranian crude,
and the U.S. hopes Saudi supplies can ease the transition.
The talks are occurring amid increased international concern over
Iran's uranium enrichment activity and speculation that military
action by the U.S. or Israel may occur. The U.S., Israel and some
Arab countries accuse Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, but
the Islamic republic insists its program is solely for peaceful energy
and research purposes.
In Washington, President Barack Obama said Friday he was plowing
ahead with potential sanctions against countries that keep buying
oil from Iran, including U.S. allies, in the deepening campaign to
starve Iran of money for its nuclear program. The world oil market
is tight but deep enough to keep the squeeze on Iran, Obama said.
U.S. officials didn't provide all the details of Clinton's meeting
with Abdullah, which included an hour when the two spoke privately
without any aides present. They expressed a shared commitment to a
stable international oil market, senior State Department officials
said, outlining the discussions on condition of anonymity.
America's top diplomat and the Saudi monarch also discussed
coordination among the Arab Gulf states on how to unite their defensive
capacities into a cohesive regional strategy. Despite sensing a shared
threat from Shiite power Iran, wide technical and political divisions
separate the Sunni countries, which span the oil-rich kingdoms of
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to impoverished Yemen.
The United States is already planning to sell defensive missile
technology to the UAE, which along with Saudi Arabia ranks among the
more advanced militarily. But Washington wants the big and small Gulf
governments to reconcile their distrust of each other and develop a
united long-term missile defense architecture.