EXCLUSIVE: US says Iran’s claimed naval alliance with Saudi, Gulf nations ‘defies reason’

BEIRUT — A US military official told Breaking Defense today that an Iranian assertion that Tehran would soon establish a naval alliance with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations “defies reason.”

“It defies reason that Iran, the number one cause of regional instability, claims it wants to form a naval security alliance to protect the very waters it threatens,” US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces spokesperson Cmdr. Tim Hawkins said. He said that in the past two years alone, Iran has attacked or seized 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels.

“Actions matter, which is why we are bolstering defense around the Strait of Hormuz with partners,” said Hawkins.

Earlier today, Iranian state-linked media reported that navy commander Shahram Irani said that Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as three other Gulf states, namely the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, planned to form a naval alliance that would also include Iraq, India and Pakistan. Although Irani didn’t specify details, he said that the countries of the region have realized that only cooperation with each other brings security to the area.

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The claim from a single Iranian military officer is certain to raise skeptical eyebrows far from US 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, since it would mean not only have relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia warmed dramatically enough for a military alliance, but that long-time antagonists India and Pakistan would also closely cooperate on the high seas. As of this report, the foreign ministries of the countries purportedly involved have not publicly responded to the Iranian claim. (Senior officials from Iran, Saudi Arabia and India met late last week at the BRICS emerging economies session in South Africa.)

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As recently as February the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, published a joint statement “condemn[ing] Iran’s continued destabilizing policies” in the region.

Iran’s claim came a few days after another head-scratcher, this one from the UAE in which the foreign ministry said the nation had withdrawn from the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) in the Gulf. That assertion, denied by the US, was also met with skepticism by some observers.

“You can’t withdraw from something that has no official membership. CMF is all on a voluntary basis. You can suspend participation, you can show up and contribute few or no maritime assets, …none of this is mandatory. It’s not like this is a standing task force,” Bilal Saab, Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense and Security Program at the Middle East Institute said of UAE’s announcement.

Saab added, “Abu Dhabi is obviously unhappy with [the US]. So, this is their way of messaging to [the US] their displeasure. This is all political, in my mind.”

As recently as last week the US and the UAE jointly patrolled the Gulf of Oman.

The CMF is a multinational maritime partnership of 38 nations — including the countries Iran claimed to ally with — that is aimed at countering illicit non-state actors on the high seas and promoting security and stability.