US removing some missile systems from Middle East: Report
The United States is pulling some of its anti-aircraft and missile batteries out of the Middle East, marking a shift that focuses away from long-lasting conflicts in the region to tensions with China, Russia and Iran, according to US media.
The US Defense Department will pull out four Patriot missile systems from Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain next month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US military officials.
Two Patriot missile systems will be redeployed from Kuwait, and one each from Jordan and Bahrain, the report said. Patriots are mobile missile systems capable of shooting down missiles and planes.
The report comes amid rising rhetoric against Iran from the United States, which earlier this year pulled out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Tehran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Meanwhile, Russia and the United States have been facing diplomatic tensions over Crimea’s separation from Ukraine and reunification with Russia in 2014, Moscow's involvement in the Syrian conflict and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
Geopolitical and economic tensions have also been escalating between the US and China over trade, the South China Sea and other strategic issues.
US President Donald Trump has imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports and 10 percent on another $200 billion, which will increase to 25 percent in January.
Trump has also threatened to add another $267 billion in Chinese imports to the target list if Beijing retaliated for the latest US penalties. That would cover nearly everything China sells to the United States.
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