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The U.S. military has deployed two additional Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to protect key energy facilities amid preparations for possible renewed military operations against Iran, Axios reported Thursday, citing two U.S. officials and a regional source.
One battery was sent to Saudi Arabia last month to protect a major oil facility, while another was deployed to Qatar to defend a natural gas facility, according to the report.
The deployments were intended to reassure both countries that Washington would protect their critical energy infrastructure if U.S. President Donald Trump resumes major combat operations against Iran.
Trump said Thursday that he was considering renewing a bombing campaign in the coming weeks.
“Now I have to make a decision: either Iran signs the deal, or it won’t exist any longer,” he said.
Axios reported that Saudi and Qatari leaders urged Trump in early August not to launch a major attack that would include strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, fearing retaliation against their own oil and gas facilities.
U.S. officials said those appeals were a key factor in Trump’s decision to pursue economic pressure instead.
The report said Washington would need Saudi permission to use the kingdom’s airspace for renewed major combat operations, but Riyadh would be unlikely to agree without assurances that its oil facilities were protected.
U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins declined to comment.
The United States is also sending additional warships, fighter jets and troops to the Middle East, Axios reported.
A U.S. official said the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and its strike group left San Diego on Sunday and were expected to reach the region around mid-November.
Officials have not yet determined whether the carrier will replace an existing deployment or increase the U.S. presence to three carrier strike groups.
The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, carrying thousands of Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, also departed for the region Monday and is expected to arrive by the end of November, according to the report.
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