DUBAI (Dispatches) --
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on Saturday launched some of America’s tired broadsides against Tehran in Bahrain at the annual Manama Dialogue.
He said the U.S. would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and counter its “dangerous use” of suicide drones in the wider Mideast.
“And we remain committed to a diplomatic outcome of the nuclear issue,” Austin told an event put on by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “But if Iran isn’t willing to engage seriously, then we will look at all of the options necessary to keep the United States secure,” he added.
Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful. The country’s nuclear facilities have been subject to the most intrusive inspections and monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency which has repeatedly verified their peaceful intentions.
However, the U.S. is globally known as the only nation to have used nuclear bombs against another country and retains a policy of renovating its massive atomic arsenal.
Former president Donald Trump, who repeatedly stoked fears of impending military or nuclear action during his tenure, unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
His term was marked by a series of escalating incidents that struck the wider Mideast, including drone and mine attacks targeting vessels at sea, as well as assaults blamed on Iran and resistance movements in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. also assassinated a top Iranian general in Baghdad in early 2020, which saw Iran target American troops in Iraq with ballistic missiles.
Under Biden, U.S. military officials are looking at a wider reshuffling of forces from the Mideast to other areas, though it still maintains a large presence at bases across the region. Austin hinted at that in his remarks, saying: “Our potential punch includes what our friends can contribute and what we have prepositioned and what we can rapidly flow in.”
“Our friends and foes both know that the United States can deploy overwhelming force at the time and place of our choosing,” Austin threatened.
Austin’s comments also touched on the ongoing Saudi war in Yemen, for which the Biden administration halted its offensive support shortly after he came into office.
Saudi Arabia has led a military campaign since 2015 against the Sanaa-based council which administers the country. Yemeni forces have launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on the kingdom to retaliate for a punishing aerial bombing campaign that has killed many civilians.
But while the kingdom constantly refers to every drone and missile fired by Yemeni forces as successfully intercepted by its defenses, Austin put the rate instead at “nearly 90%.” The U.S. also withdrew its THAAD air defenses and Patriot missile batteries from Prince Sultan Air Base several months ago.
“We’ll work with them until it’s 100%,” he said.
The Manama Dialogue takes place each year in Bahrain, a small island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia that’s home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Bahrain also has engaged in a yearslong campaign crushing dissent. Activists wrote to Austin before his trip, urging him to raise the detention of prisoners on the island and Bahrain’s involvement in the Yemen war.