WASHINGTON: The US President Donald Trump has announced plans about sending troops to Saudi Arabia in the wake of attacks against the country’s oil infrastructure.
According to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, the deployment would be defensive in nature. He added that the US has not decided on the total number of troops to be deployed in Saudi Arabia.
Although, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for the attacks against two oil facilities, both the US and Saudi Arabia are blaming Iran which the latter has denied.
Earlier on Friday, US President Trump announced the highest level sanctions against Iran while signaling he wanted to avoid military conflict.
Trump told reporters, “I think the strong person approach, and the thing that does show strength, would be showing a little bit of restraint.”
As per Trump, the fresh sanctions will focus on Iran’s central bank and its sovereign wealth.
