6 Gulf Arab countries back extending UN arms embargo on Iran
Dubai: A six-nation bloc of Gulf Arab nations torn apart by internal strife endorsed an extension of a United Nations arms embargo on Iran, just two months before it is set to expire.
The Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday sent a letter to the UN Security Council backing an extension of an arms embargo that's kept Iran from purchasing foreign-made weapons like fighter jets, tanks and warships.
The GCC comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates alleged Iran had "not ceased or desisted from armed interventions in neighboring countries, directly and through organisations and movements armed and trained by Iran".
A Saudi-led coalition continues to battle Yemen's Houthi rebels, whom the UN, the US and armament experts have accused of receiving arms from Iran. Tehran denies arming the Houthis, even as Iranian armaments and components have repeatedly turned up in Yemen.
The letter also said Iran arms Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and Syria and allegedly provides weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq and terrorist groups in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
UN restrictions establish a consensus understanding of the threat to peace and stability Iranian proliferation represents, the GCC said in the letter signed by General-Secretary Nayef al-Hajraf on behalf of the bloc.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi condemned the GCC letter and called it an irresponsible statement that serves US interests, Iranian state TV reported.
Mousavi also criticised the Gulf Arab countries for being among the largest arms buyers in the region and the world," even amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The UN banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its aging equipment, much of which had been purchased by the shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier embargo targeted Iranian arms exports.
Iran's 2015 nuclear deal saw the UN agree to sunset the arms embargo this October. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, part of a maximum pressure campaign that's hurt Iran's already-ailing economy and led to a series of escalating incidents in the Mideast.
The GCC letter also mentioned Iran's shootdown of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January and its navy accidentally killing 19 sailors in a missile strike during an exercise. Iran also is suspected of launching a September attack on the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry, though Tehran denies that.
That the GCC offered a unified statement on Iran comes as it remains torn by the ongoing Qatar crisis, which saw Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates cut diplomatic ties and launch a boycott of the nation beginning in 2017.
Kuwait has sought to mediate the crisis, though its 91-year-old emir now is hospitalised in the US suffering from an undisclosed ailment.
Amid the crisis, Qatar has had warmer ties with Iran and used its airspace while sharing a vast offshore oil and gas field with Tehran.
The small nation is home to the massive Al-Udeid Air Base, home to the forward headquarters of the US military's Central Command. Oman, which saw its long-serving sultan die earlier this year, long has had close ties to Iran and has served as an interlocutor between Tehran and the West.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates long have viewed Iran far more suspiciously, accusing it of stirring up dissent among Shiite populations in the region.
The unified GCC statement comes after recent visits by outgoing US special representative for Iran Brian Hook amid the pandemic. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised the letter early Monday.
The US will introduce a resolution this week to extend the embargo after years of diplomacy, Pompeo wrote on Twitter. The Security Council "must choose between arming terrorists or standing by the" GCC.
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3 US troops killed, 5 seriously wounded during Iran attacks, military says
Washington (AP): Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the US attacks on Iran, the military said Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that has sparked retaliation from the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred. The statement said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
Central Command described the situation “as fluid” and said it would withhold the identities of the service members who were killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.
The US military also denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn't even come close.”
President Donald Trump had warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” the Republican president said in a video address released early Saturday. “That often happens in war. But we're doing this not for now. We're doing this for the future.”
Following the US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other leaders, Iran's counterattacks have struck US bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.
Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the Lincoln and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.
The Ford was part of the US raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven US troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.
One of those injured received the Medal of Honor during Trump's State of the Union address last week. Trump said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted the lead CH-47 Chinook helicopter that descended on the “heavily protected military fortress” where Maduro was staying.
Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.
The US military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country's government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.
