The French Minister of Armies speaks of the diminishing role of Washington in the Middle East and an American general responding to it

PARIS (Reuters) - French Defense Minister Florence Barley said on Saturday she was concerned about the consequences of what she saw as a "gradual and deliberate" decline in the US role in the Middle East.

Since May, the region has been on heightened tensions over mysterious attacks on oil tankers, drone strikes and missiles targeting Saudi Aramco oil facilities.

The United States, Saudi Arabia and other countries have blamed Iran, which has denied any role. Despite these accusations and accidents, the United States avoided reciprocating, even though its Saudi ally was targeted.

"We have seen a gradual, deliberate US engagement," she said in a speech at the annual Manama Dialogue conference, adding that the policy "has been on paper" for a while but has become more apparent lately.

"When ships went off without a response, the drone was shot down. When that happened without a response, major oil facilities were bombed. Where do these events stop? Where are the stabilizing parties?"

"The region is accustomed to receding and then increased American intervention; but this time it seemed more dangerous."

For his part, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir refused to talk about an American withdrawal from the region, stressing that "there is no doubt" in the United States to fulfill its obligations.

"The United States is a very reliable ally, as it has been for the past seven decades," he said.

"There is a desire in the United States historically to try to retreat on the international stage, but this desire is not reflected in the American position" on the ground, adding, "Americans are in the region because they are the only superpower on earth."

Red line
Al-Jubeir also defended Riyadh's response to the September Aramco strikes, saying the kingdom was "strategically patient" in its investigation of the attack so that there was "no doubt" about who was behind it. "We have said all the time that we don't want war."

General Kenneth Mackenzie, commander of the US Central Command in charge of the Middle East, responded to criticism of Washington's role in the region, while acknowledging that the issue may not be a priority for Americans.

"We have an aircraft carrier in the region and our support from Saudi Arabia," he told reporters on the sidelines of the conference. "I do not fully agree with the narrative that we have abandoned the region or that we are leaving."

"Obviously, the United States has other international priorities. This is probably not one of our top international priorities, but I think it remains very important for the United States."

Earlier, Mackenzie told the forum that "there's a lot of water to cover. Simply put, we don't have enough resources to be where we want to be at the right time."

The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln crossed the Strait of Hormuz last week, a move the Pentagon said was a way to show the United States' commitment to freedom of navigation.

It is the first US carrier to pass through the Strait, a transit point for a third of the world's oil, since Iran shot down a US reconnaissance aircraft in the region in June.

In the same vein, the French Defense Minister has placed itself in contrast with the United States on the security of navigation in the Gulf, after Washington launched earlier this month a maritime alliance based in Bahrain to protect sea lanes in the region.

Barley said that France supports a separate European mission, supposed to start "very soon." "We want to make it clear that our policy is different from the policy of extreme American pressure" on Iran, she said.

France and Britain in July proposed building a coalition to protect ships in the Gulf, but London later joined the US-launched coalition this month, which includes Australia, the United States and Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.