RIYADH – Saudi Arabia has joined a US-led naval mission purportedly aimedat protecting shipping lanes in Middle Eastern waterways as Washington andRiyadh engage in another blame game against Iran following massive Yemenidrone attacks on key Saudi oil facilities.
Quoting an official source in the Defense Ministry, the state-run SaudiPress Agency (SPA) reported on Wednesday that Riyadh had decided to be amember of the so-called International Maritime Security Construct, whichoperates in the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandab, the Sea of Oman and thePersian Gulf.
It also claimed that the US-led coalition is meant to “protect merchantships through providing safe navigation” and safeguard the interests ofthe alliance’s member countries.
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Saudi Arabia’s accession to the mission, it further claimed, was “insupport of regional and international efforts to deter and counter threatsto maritime navigation and global trade in order to ensure global energysecurity and the continued flow of energy supplies to the global economy.”
The United States began trying to persuade its allies into the maritimecoalition after it blamed Tehran for two separate attacks on oil tankers inthe Gulf of Oman in May and June, without providing any credible evidenceto back up the allegation, which Iran has categorically rejected.
