U.S. increases military presence near Iran

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has increased the U.S. military presence near Iran and is accelerating installations of anti-missile systems in nearby countries, officials said Saturday, as the White House builds pressure for stern new sanctions against Iran.

New air defense systems are being delivered to
Persian Gulf countries and specially-equipped cruisers, a linchpin of
the U.S. missile defense system, are being deployed in the waters of
the Persian Gulf, the officials said.

The moves seek to reassure Persian Gulf countries that they would be protected against possible offensive action from Iran,
which is under intensified international pressure to refrain from
developing nuclear weapons. U.S. officials stressed the defensive
nature of the actions being taken throughout the region.

The partnership between the U.S. and Gulf countries,
described by a senior U.S. official on Saturday, is likely to include
early warning radar systems and ballistic missile defenses that will be
integrated with America’s existing and planned missile defense
initiatives.

The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, four countries with close military ties to the United States, will receive advanced anti-missile defense systems.

“Iran and President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad have scared those on the west side of the Gulf right into our arms,” said the senior official.

U.S. officials also hope the moves will alleviate concerns about Iran within Israel, which has said it has the right to launch military strikes to prevent Iranian progress toward development of weapons.

The expanding military partnership comes as the Obama administration has stepped up pressure on Iran to take part in talks aimed at reconciling its civilian nuclear efforts with international concerns that Iran’s true goal is developing nuclear weapons.

A chief mission of top administration officials in
recent weeks has been to build international support for intensified
economic sanctions. The willingness of the Persian Gulf states to
accept additional aid could help signal to countries opposed to the
sanctions, like China, that Iran poses concerns to areas besides the United States, Europe and Israel.

U.S. officials said the expanding partnership
between U.S. and Persian Gulf countries is a direct result of the
wariness of Gulf leaders concerning Ahmadinejad’s intentions and
actions in the region.

President Barack Obama took office last year vowing to negotiate with Iran,
but hopes for talks faded last fall after a package of proposed accords
withered under Iranian inaction. In meetings this week in London, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to solidify international support for harsher sanctions, and
Obama warned in his State of the Union speech last week that diplomatic
overtures to Iran would be combined with “consequences” if Tehran failed to cooperate.

Obama administration officials also have stressed
their aversion to U.S. military action, and have taken strides to
assure that their actions convey a protective posture.

In a speech to the Institute of the Study of War in Washington on Jan. 22, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus,
the head of U.S. Central Command, offered broad details of the expanded
U.S.-Gulf partnerships. He said then that the measures were being
driven by a fear of Iranian actions in the region.

He said two Patriot missile batteries had been
deployed in each of four different countries and said Aegis ballistic
missile cruisers were now stationed full time in the Gulf. He did not
identify the four countries in the address.

Early warning agreements between various countries
in the region, Petraeus said, were enabling the U.S. to create a
“common operational picture” for the region to counter the Iranian
missile threat.

“Iran
is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of
the Gulf front, and indeed, it has been a catalyst for the
implementation of the architecture that we envision and have now been
trying to implement,” Petraeus said.

Developing an integrated warning system across a
broad geographic expanse could help U.S. forces to quickly shoot down
an Iranian missile.

U.S. officials hope that the expansion of the early warning system also has the effect of calming Israeli concerns about Iran. U.S. officials believe a preemptive strike by Israel
could provoke a war. Officials from both the Bush and Obama
administrations have told Israeli officials they do not need to launch
a strike against Iran.

The Obama White House believes there remains time to continue a diplomatic approach to halt Iranian weapons systems.

In Iran,
however, the latest moves are likely to serve as reminders of the 1988
incident in which a U.S. Aegis cruiser shot down a civilian Iranian
airliner, killing nearly 300.

The anti-missile systems likely will mean some
additional U.S. soldiers in the region. Patriot missiles are usually
deployed with at least a small contingent of U.S. soldiers.

The presence of additional forces should not be a major issue within the four countries accepting the stepped up defenses. Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait all host major U.S. bases and the government of the United Arab Emirates has a longstanding relationship with the American military.

U.S. officials also are working with allies in the
Gulf to ensure freedom of navigation in the region. Arab countries
worry that during a crisis, Iran could try to prevent their ships from traversing the straight of Hormuz, cutting off their oil export business.

Obama administration officials also hope to head off an expanded nuclear arms race in the region. If Iran
acquires a nuclear weapon, or is seen as making progress toward
acquiring one, wealthy Arab Gulf governments could seek their own
weapons, a situation Washington views as potentially volatile.

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