The US envoy in charge of the Iranian file, Brian Hook, said that Washington’s decision to withdraw Patriot missile batteries and US soldiers from Saudi Arabia does not mean that Iran no longer poses a threat to US interests, and that his country wants to enhance Riyadh’s capabilities in order to share the burden of confronting Tehran.

"This decision does not mean that Iran is no longer a threat," Hook said in an interview with the American "CNBC" network. "The presence of our forces increases and decreases according to the circumstances, but our missions are fixed and have not changed at all."

He added, "We stand with our partners and allies in the region, and do everything in our power to protect American interests. President Trump has restored a military deterrent that can be relied upon in self-defense."

The US envoy believed that what US President Donald Trump is doing is to strengthen Saudi Arabia's capabilities so that it is in a better position to share the burden of confronting what he described as the Iranian aggression.

He said, "Saudi Arabia has great support from countries around the world, including the United States, France and other countries that did what they could after Iran's attack on Saudi Arabia, which targeted the world's largest oil refining facility."

The aforementioned attack took place on September 14, 2019, and Iran denies the US accusations of responsibility for it.

Hook noted that Washington has concluded a number of arms deals with Saudi Arabia, "and we will continue to support its security."

Trump and King's conversation


The White House said Friday evening in a statement that President Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz spoke on the phone "and reaffirmed the strength of the US-Saudi defense partnership."

The statement did not mention the fate of the Patriot missiles in Saudi Arabia, and the White House declined to provide details.

And American press reports said yesterday, Thursday, that the United States is about to withdraw two Patriot missile batteries from Saudi Arabia that it had sent in the wake of the attack on Saudi oil facilities last year, in addition to American combat aircraft and military personnel.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the validity of those reports, but said that this does not indicate a decline in US support for Saudi Arabia, nor is it an attempt to pressure Riyadh on oil issues.

And he said in a radio interview that "Patriot missile batteries have been there for a while, and those forces had to be returned," adding that this does not mean that Washington no longer sees a threat from Iran.

These developments came within a delicate stage in relations between Washington and Riyadh, as the atmosphere became tense due to the Saudi-Russian war in the global oil markets, which was one of the causes of the price collapse and severely damaged American oil companies.

Reuters had published a special report in which it said that President Trump threatened in the midst of the recent oil war to cut off US military support to Saudi Arabia if it did not stop flooding the markets, in a call he made with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on April 2.