Team Trump Eyes Creation Of ‘Arab NATO’ To Confront Iran

The Trump administration is exploring the creation of a new security body comprising Sunni-majority Egypt, Jordan and the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council; this, with a view to countering Shiite Iran’s regional adventurism. Tentatively being called the Middle East Strategic Alliance, its member-states would seek deeper cooperation in the realms of missile defense, military training and counter-terrorism, while strengthening broader political and economic ties. “MESA will serve as a bulwark against Iranian aggression, terrorism, extremism and will bring stability,” a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council asserted in reference to the potential association. U.S. officials hope to hash out the details for the formation of the so-called “Arab NATO” at a prospective summit in Washington in October. The revelation comes amid multiple reports that the Trump administration is preparing military options in the event Tehran carries out its repeated threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the vital Persian Gulf waterway through which about one-third of the world’s oil supply passes. Australian media reported over the weekend that Washington was readying to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, a claim U.S. Defense Secretary James Matthis subsequently described as “fiction.”