U.S. to send troops to Saudi Arabia over Iran crisis, CNN says

The U.S. withdrew most of its troops from Saudi Arabia in 2003 and handed over control of the Prince Sultan base to Saudi officials in the same year. It simultaneously transferred its Combined Air Operations Center to neighboring Qatar. Some Muslims have objected to the permanent presence of non-Muslim soldiers in the country hosting Islam’s holiest sites, and their presence helped to radicalize militants, including Osama bin Laden.

The plan comes as both houses of Congress have voted to block arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Members of the two main U.S. political parties criticized President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency declaration to push through $8 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

They have urged stronger consequences for Saudi Arabia’s role in the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi last year and are increasingly questioning the Saudi-led war in Yemen that has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The move is likely to be seen as a provocation in Iran. In an interview with Bloomberg in New York on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that the U.S. presence in the region foments instability, while its arms sales to Saudi Arabia made the situation “flammable.”

“The problem in our region is not the $16 billion a year that we spend on defense, it’s the $67 billion that Saudi Arabia spends on buying weapons from the U.S. and other Western countries,” he said. “That has to stop.”

“We see the presence of the U.S. as conducive to greater instability,” Zarif said. “It exacerbates tensions, it creates a false sense of security for its clients who believe they can get away with murder, literally.”

Congress hasn’t been officially notified of the deployment, CNN reported, citing one official saying that an announcement is expected next week.

Foreign policy is one of the few areas where Trump has faced some resistance from congressional Republicans, particularly in his approach to Saudi Arabia. Trump has cultivated a close relationship with the kingdom — it was the first country he visited as president –and he has described the traditional ally as a bulwark against what he calls Iran’s malign activity in the region.