Augmenting Military Deployments in the Middle East Threatens Regional Peace

Biden's Policy Echoes Failed Trump Era Hostility towards Iran

In a recent development that has caught the attention of Middle East experts, the United States has been bolstering its military presence in the region, particularly around the Persian Gulf. This escalation in military force under the pretext of countering "Iranian provocations" is casting a shadow over the overall peace and security of the Middle East, as reported by China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency on the 20th of the month.

Earlier this month, Pat Ryder, the spokesperson for the Department of Defense, announced that the US Navy's Bahrain Amphibious Task Force and Marine Expeditionary Unit 26 have been deployed to the region in response to Iran's control over strategic areas like the Hormuz Strait. Additionally, on the 16th, the US Central Command confirmed via multiple sources, including Twitter, that US Air Force operations were ongoing in the region's airspace.

In response, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy showcased a strong military posture by conducting large-scale military exercises in the southern waters of Iran in early August, demonstrating their readiness to protect Iran's maritime interests.

The Iranian government swiftly dismissed the US claims of controlling these waters as "baseless" and argued that the security of the Persian Gulf could be adequately maintained through collaboration among regional states, without interference from external powers.

Political analysts are critical of the US decision to maintain a significant presence in the Persian Gulf, asserting that this only exacerbates tensions in the Middle East, rather than fostering security and peace, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Kourosh Amada, a former diplomat based in Tehran, highlighted in an interview with Iran's Entekhab Internet News that the augmentation of military forces in the region, whether desired by the US or not, creates a precarious situation without any clear agreements between the nations, making conflict almost inevitable.

Senior Researcher Sina Toosi from the International Policy Institute in Washington also raised concerns in a recent interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera TV, stating, "President Biden is emulating his predecessor President Trump's failed policy towards Iran, thereby escalating economic warfare and military tensions."

Furthermore, in a research paper released on the 20th, Emaad Abbsenas, an analyst from Tehran, suggested that the increased US military presence in the Middle East could remind Arab nations of a time when they were under US surveillance regarding their oil exports, using currencies other than the US dollar.

On a different note, Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to Iran, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, offered his insight in a column published on an Iranian diplomatic website on the 17th. He posited that the US is enhancing its military presence in the Middle East not so much to counter Iran but rather to restrain China's expanding military influence in the region.

He pointed out that China has recently engaged in diplomacy that has reconciled previously hostile Middle Eastern nations, leading to apprehensions within the US due to the diminishing grip of their own influence.