American allies in the the Middle East won't be rushing to flood their arsenals with U.S. military hardware as a result of Iran's recent aggressiveness in the region, according to defense experts.
Tehran set off a seemingly dangerous game of one-upmanship with Washington and its allies this week when it threatened to take control of the Straits of Hormuz. The key waterway bordering Iranian coastline is a vital transit point for commercial and military vessels looking to enter the Persian Gulf. Iran did back off its claims to the straits this week but warned the Pentagon not to send Navy carriers back to the Persian Gulf. Iran's assertions over the highly contested waterway coincided with two major arms deals between the U.S, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Pentagon agreed to sell 150 new and refurbished F-15 fighters to the Saudis and provide the UAE with an advanced missile defense system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The two deals were announced within days of each other and less than a week after Iran laid claim to the straits. But those sales were not a sign that American allies in the region were rushing to arm themselves against Iran, former Pentagon policy chief and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, said.
The THAAD and F-15 sales were set in motion long before Iran began flexing its muscles over the straits, said Edelman, who is now a distinguished fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. UAE and Saudi Arabia have always been top buyers of U.S. weaponry going back to his days in the George W. Bush White House, Edelman said. American allies in the Middle East -- including Saudi Arabia -- bought a combined $4.8 billion dollars worth of U.S. arms in 2010 alone, according to a Congressional Research Service report released last December. The recent "huffing and puffing" coming from Iran, especially after two high-profile U.S. arms deals with regional allies, was just "part of a long-standing story" in the contentious relationship between Washington and Tehran, he said.