LONDON: Iran is the “most destabilizing force in the Middle East,” according to the US’s top military general in the region as he called on partners in the region to address mounting concerns.
US Central Command (Centcom) chief Gen. Erik Kurilla told Al Arabiya on Tuesday that countering the threat posed by the Islamic republic remained a top priority but said it would be reliant on regional cooperation.
“The US’s position is that we will not allow a nuclear Iran, however, our concerns about Iran go beyond its nuclear capability,” said Kurilla.
The Centcom chief noted Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for Iran-backed militias and proxies as other concerns requiring “a firm effort from us and our security partners in the region.”
He was in Saudi Arabia as part of a “listening tour” having been in Egypt before and said he would be making several more trips to the Kingdom.
“This visit to the Centcom region… is largely an opportunity to glean insights from our partners here and in so doing, I’m looking for gaps, risks, and opportunities in security for our partners and for the region,” Kurilla added.
“I’ll return to the kingdom many times in the coming months and years. In so doing, I will demonstrate American commitment to Saudi Arabia and the region.”
Kurilla, who replaced Gen. Frank McKenzie earlier this year as the top US military representative in the Middle East, stressed the importance of the US-Saudi partnership, describing it as a relationship “underpinning our strategy in the Middle East.”
As part of its ongoing commitment to the region, it created a new naval task force comprised of international military personnel and 15 US recruits from the combined maritime forces.
The new force’s focus will be on smuggling and piracy amid concerns over a rise in the level of weapons flowing into Yemen and other parts of the Gulf, which are believed to have been used against civilian areas in Saudi and the UAE.
“We are concerned about the smuggling of advanced conventional munitions by sea to support Houthi operations,” said Kurilla.
“Therefore, anti-smuggling operations with the Royal Saudi Naval Forces will serve as an area of focus for me (as will) maintaining safe and secure waterways, a critical responsibility for us and our partners.”
Iran ‘most destabilizing force’ in Middle East, says Centcom chief
https://arab.news/b7t67
Iran ‘most destabilizing force’ in Middle East, says Centcom chief
- “The US’s position is that we will not allow a nuclear Iran, however, our concerns about Iran go beyond its nuclear capability,” said Kurilla.
- He stressed the importance of the US-Saudi partnership, describing it as a relationship “underpinning our strategy in the Middle East”
Three brothers arrested over US embassy blast in Oslo
- The brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and police were investigating the motive
- While none of the brother were previously known to police, Hatlo said investigators were not ruling out links to “criminal networks“
OSLO: Norwegian police said Wednesday three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo, which caused minor damage but no injuries.
Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo and that police were investigating the motive.
“We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity,” Hatlo said.
“This is quite natural given the target — the US embassy — and the security situation the world is in today,” he said.
Hatlo said the investigation would seek to clarify exactly what roles the brothers, who were in their 20s, had played.
“We believe that one of them is the person who placed the bomb outside the embassy and that the other two were complicit in the act,” Hatlo told reporters.
Oystein Storrvik, a lawyer for one of the suspects, told broadcaster TV 2 that his client had admitted “to being involved in the case.”
“He admits that he placed the bomb there,” Storrvik told the broadcaster.
Storrvik added that his client had been questioned by police.
“He has explained what happened, and I have no further comments at this time,” he said.
- ‘Proxy actors’ -
While none of the brother were previously known to police, Hatlo said investigators were not ruling out links to “criminal networks.”
In its annual threat assessment, Norwegian security service PST said last month that Iran, which it considers one of the main threats to the country, could rely on “proxy actors,” including “criminal networks,” to commit acts.
On Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador in Oslo denied any involvement by his country in the embassy explosion.
“It is unacceptable that we are being singled out,” Alireza Jahangiri told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.
According to police, the perpetrators of the bombing, described as “powerful,” may also have acted out of their own motives.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East due to American strikes on Iran. Several have faced attacks as Tehran responds by targeting industrial and diplomatic facilities.
The blast took place at around 1:00 am (0000 GMT) on Sunday at the entrance to the embassy’s consular section.
On Monday, two images were released from surveillance camera footage showing a suspect dressed in dark clothing with a hood over his head and wearing a backpack.
Roughly at the time the incident occurred, a video had been uploaded to the Google Maps page for the US embassy.
The video, which has since been taken down, appeared to show Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli strikes in Iran.
According to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, the person who uploaded the video wrote in Persian: “God is great. We are victorious.”
Police have also opened an investigation into this.
