NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The U.S. will deploy troops and air defense to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates following strikes on the kingdom's oil fields, officials announced at a Pentagon briefing Friday night.
"This is the first step we are taking to respond to these attacks," Defense Secrteary Mark Esper said at the briefing.
Esper said this is a first step, and he is not ruling out additional moves down the road. He says it's a response to requests from the Saudis and the UAE to help improve their air and missile defenses.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said there will be a "moderate deployment" of troops sent to Saudi Arabia, but he declinded to provide a figure, except to say it will not be thousands of troops.
Dunford said details of the deployments will be determined over the coming days.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to build international consensus ahead of the U.N. General Assembly next week after the Sept. 14 attack that it claims was "unquestionably sponsored by Iran." The U.S. has gone further, alleging Iran carried out the attack as part of a campaign seeking to roil the region as American sanctions on its oil industry prevent it from selling crude oil abroad as Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers collapses.
Iran has denied involvement in the attack that was initially claimed by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, now heading to New York for the U.N. meetings, has warned that any retaliatory strike on Iran by the U.S. or Saudi Arabia will result in "an all-out war."