Wall Street Journal: Washington should boost air defenses before attacking Iran
The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported that the United States should strengthen air defense systems at its bases in the Middle East before any attack it might launch on Iran.
The WSJ newspaper noted in a report on Sunday that the Washington administration should make the defense systems at its bases in the region more robust before any strike is launched against Iran, in anticipation of the possibility of retaliation.
It quoted US officials as saying that air strikes against Iran wouldn’t happen anytime soon, because the Pentagon is in the process of deploying additional air defense systems to better protect Israel, Arab allies and US forces in the event of a retaliation or a potential long-term conflict.
According to the report, the officials believe that if US President Donald Trump orders the attack today, the Pentagon could carry out a limited air strike against Iran, but they believe that the United States isn’t prepared enough to face possible retaliation from Iran in the event of a decisive attack.
The officials noted that the US military already has air defense systems in the area, but confirmed, based on satellite imagery, that the Pentagon has yet to complete the deployment of an additional battery of high-end air defense systems (THAAD) and Patriot systems at bases where US forces are stationed in the Middle East, including Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
Susan Maloney, who worked at the US State Department on Iran policy, told the WSJ that the air defense problem is of great importance, it’s about whether we have enough equipment to protect our forces and assets in the region from any possible retaliation from Iran.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump said Washington was in talks with Tehran, but spoke in a pessimistic tone about the possibility of a positive outcome from the talks.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a speech to the nation on Sunday, said that any US attack on his country would lead to a regional war.
Iran considers that the United States seeks through sanctions, pressure, and provoking unrest to provide a pretext for foreign intervention in order to bring about regime change in the country, and vows a comprehensive and unprecedented response to any attack targeting it, even if its limited according to some US statements and leaks.
Israel and its ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking to produce nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes, including electricity generation.
