Iranian missile attacks on US bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi: Where and why are the US military present in the Middle East?

 Iranian missile attacks on US bases in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi: Where and why are the US military present in the Middle East?

 

Following the US and Israeli attacks, Iran has launched retaliatory missile attacks on US bases in the region.

According to information so far, missile attacks have taken place in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, while explosions have been heard in Riyadh.

The Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that their missiles and drones targeted the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and other US bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as 'military and security centers' in Israel.

There was no immediate comment from the US military, but the US embassy had previously warned its citizens to seek shelter in a safe place due to the risk of missile and drone attacks.

It should be remembered that Iran also targeted the US air base in Qatar during the 12-day war with Israel in June last year.

Where are the US troops in the region?

Barbara Sloan is a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and a lecturer at George Washington University and closely follows Middle East affairs.

She told BBC Urdu that the US presence in the region has been in the Persian Gulf since the 1940s, while it saw a major increase after the 9/11 attacks. The US had built its first air base in the region in the Saudi city of Dhahran in 1945.

According to the US Department of Defense, there are about 40,000 US troops in the Middle East.

According to the US Department of Defense, the largest US base in the Middle East is Al-Udeid Air Base, located in Qatar and built in 1996.

Al-Udeid Air Base is located near the Qatari capital, Doha. It is the headquarters of US Central Command's air operations in the Middle East. The base is home to about 8,000 US troops.

The base is also used by British troops on a rotating basis. It is sometimes called Abu Nakhla Airport.

Qatar granted the US access to Al-Udeid Air Base in 2000. According to the London-based intelligence firm Grey Dynamics, the air base came under US control in 2001. In December 2002, Doha and Washington formally recognized the presence of US forces at Al-Udeid Air Base through an agreement.

In 2024, CNN reported that the US had extended its military presence in Qatar for another 10 years.

It should be noted that in addition to Qatar, US troops are also present in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus and Iraq. The US also has several military bases in Kuwait, while it also has two bases in Saudi Arabia.

According to Barbara Sloan, ‘Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain also benefit from the protection provided by the US.’

Why are American troops thousands of miles away?

There are several reasons why the United States has stationed its troops thousands of miles away in the Middle East for decades.

The Middle East, located between Asia and North Africa, is rich in natural resources and its important position on the world map has been important for the foreign policy of other countries, especially the foreign policy of the United States.

Since the discovery of an oil well in the eastern city of Dhahran in Saudi Arabia in 1938, the value of oil in the global economy has increased day by day.

Gilbert Ekhkar, professor of development studies at the British university SOAS, told the BBC World Service in a video that “when oil gained importance in the global economy, its strategic importance also increased.

Dr Lina Khatib, an associate fellow at Chatham House, a UK policy institute, told the BBC that “most people assume that the US is in the region only because of oil, even though the US is self-sufficient in this regard and in 2022 the US produced the most oil, which was 30% more than Saudi Arabia that year.”

According to Professor Gilbert, the US could also do this here to monitor other European countries and China’s access to Middle Eastern oil.

How does the presence of the US military in the region benefit Israel?

We have already given you the details regarding the US military presence in the region, but how can it benefit Israel against Iran?

We spoke to Yousef Kane, coordinator of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center, a policy institute in Washington, about this. He told the BBC that the US presence in the Middle East plays an important role in shifting the balance of power in Israel's favor in four ways.

'First, American political support plays an important role in legitimizing any kind of Israeli actions, especially in international institutions. Second, the presence of the United States in the region helps to limit local and regional conflicts, and countries like Syria, which have been in conflict for years, are stabilized, and Israel gains more freedom.

“Third, Israeli and American interests are similar, especially economically, and lastly, Israel gets security, intelligence sharing, and strategic support from the presence of the United States.”

According to Dr. Muhammad Shoaib, an assistant professor at Quaid-e-Azam University who closely monitors US international policy, “Israel is a small state, and one of the problems of small states is their lack of ‘strategic depth.’ That is, they do not have the scope to fight their enemies in the region that the big powers have.”

He further said that “the presence of the United States in the Middle East is a deterrent (i.e., to create fear) for Iran and its proxies.” The US fleet is also present in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean in the region and it is an integrated network.’

‘That is why whenever Iran attacks, the US immediately becomes aware of it and it warns Israel about it or it itself stops these missiles.’

‘The US role gives Israel the freedom to violate international law’

The US has played a direct role in the war in Iraq and Syria in the Middle East this century, and an indirect role in several wars, i.e. proxy. However, according to analysts, given past experience, the US no longer wants to be part of any major war in the Middle East.

Elizabeth Shekman Hurd, a political science professor at Northwestern University in the US, told the BBC that “no matter how important China is to the US, the US will always be looking for opportunities in the world where it can show its influence.”

“This situation may change, but at the moment the US is fully behind Israel and as long as this continues, Israel will continue to be helped to achieve its ethnic nationalist (agenda) and its goals of increasing its influence.”

Taqi Nasserat, executive director of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, says that “Despite the fierce competition between Russia and China, the US is still the only global power in the Middle East that has influence here and it uses it to tip the balance in the region in Israel’s favor. The US can influence most countries in the region and it uses this concession to protect Israel when necessary.

"The US military and economic influence, coupled with its public and personal support for Israel, gives Israel the latitude to violate international law."