U.S. busy deploying defenses against Iran - Latest News - Kentucky.com

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of a series of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships off the Iranian coast and anti-missile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials.

The deployments come at a critical turning point in President Barack Obama's dealings with Iran's leadership, when he is warning that his diplomatic outreach will now be combined with the "consequences," as he put it in the State of the Union address, of the country's continued defiance on its nuclear program. The administration is trying to win broad international consensus for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Western nations say controls the military side of the nuclear program.

As part of that effort, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly warned China on Friday that its opposition to sanctions was shortsighted. The Senate, meanwhile, last week unanimously approved a resolution authorizing sanctions that include cutting off gasoline to Iran, a step Obama's aides say he is reluctant to take.

The deployments are partly intended to address U.S. concerns about possible retaliation for whatever sanctions are imposed. The administration is also trying to demonstrate to Israel that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities.

The news that the United States is deploying anti-missile defenses — which included a rare public discussion by Gen. David H. Petraeus — appear to be part of a coordinated administration strategy to increase pressure on Iran. By highlighting the defensive nature of the buildup rather than offensive weaponry, the administration was trying to contain any Iranian threat without provoking a sharp response from Tehran.

Because many countries in the Gulf are hesitant to be publicly identified as accepting U.S. military aid and the troops that come with it, Petraeus declined to say who was taking the U.S. equipment. In fact, the names of the countries where Patriot anti-missile batteries are deployed are classified, but many of them are an open secret.

Military officials said that the countries that accepted the missiles were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. The Kuwaitis have agreed to take additional U.S.-supplied batteries to supplement older, less capable models it fielded years ago, while it awaits delivery of an upgraded system that it is seeking from the Raytheon Corp. Saudi Arabia and Israel have long had similar equipment of their own.

Petraeus spoke about the deployments at a conference on Jan. 22, saying that "Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the Gulf front, and indeed, it has been a catalyst for the implementation of the architecture that we envision and have now been trying to implement."

Petraeus said that the acceleration of defensive systems — which began when President George W. Bush was in office — included "eight Patriot missile batteries, two in each of four countries."

Petraeus also described a first line of defense: He said the United States was now keeping Aegis cruisers on patrol in the Persian Gulf at all times. Those cruisers are equipped with both advanced radar and anti-missile systems designed to intercept medium-range missiles. None of those systems would be useful against Iran's long-range missile, the Shahab III, but intelligence agencies believe that it will be years before Iran can solve the many problems involved in placing a nuclear warhead atop that missile.

As described by administration officials, the moves have several motives.

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