(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BRUSSELS, Oct 24 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Thursday accused Iran of spreading instability in the Middle East region and called on Europe to support the US to contain the Iranian threat.
"Iran's increasing maligned behavior throughout the Middle East including its recent attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities represents a persistent threat to our partners in the region," he told an event organized by the German Marshall Fund think-tank in Brussels.
Esper who just returned from a visit to the Middle East including Iraq and Saudi Arabia said, "In Saudi Arabia we continue to reinforce our partners with additional aircrafts, air missile and defense systems and other defense assets."
He urged "our allies in Europe to follow our lead and contribute with their own support to help deter the Iranian aggression to promote stability in the region and the international rules - based order."
"This is another case where burden cannot be shared by the US alone. We all have interest in preserving the rule-based order, the security of the region, "said Esper and urged NATO allies to consider bringing additional defensive assets to Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.
"There is a lot of concern in Saudi Arabia and in other GCC states about Iran's behavior ," he saidand accused Iran of sponsoring terrorist groups like Hezbollah , supplying arms to their proxies in Yemen, their nuclear and long-range missile programmer , their attacks on vessels in the Hormuz.
"Our commitment to the Saudis and other states in the region is to make sure we help defend our partners," stressed the US defense secretary.
"We are not seeking conflict with Iran, that will not be good for anyone ... but we will act if need be," he said.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Turning to Syria, Esper said Turkey's incursion in northern Syria "jeopardizes the gains made there in recent years."
"We see Turkey spinning into Russia's orbit than the western orbit and I think this is unfortunate," he said.
"Turkey has put NATO in a very difficult position," he noted and urged Ankara to go back to the reliable partner it has traditionally been.
Esper sid both China and Russia pose a big challenge to western interests but stressed that China is a "greater challenge" than Russia.
"It is clear that Beijing and Moscow wish to reshape the world at the expenses of others," he said.
"China's one-belt, one-road initiative has left several nations with unsustainable debt forcing them to trade sovereignty with financial relief," he said.
He warned that if Huawei becomes the provider of choice for European governments' 5G internet service "it's going to seriously affect our ability to share intelligence."
Esper said that he would tell NATO defense ministers in a meeting later today that NATO should focus more on China.
He also stressed the US commitment to NATO is ironclad but called on every NATO member to contribute its fair share to uphold the international rules-based order. (end)
nk.gta
MENAFN2410201900710000ID1099174904
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.