WASHINGTON, US
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his British counterpart Grant Shapps at the Pentagon Wednesday for talks on security threats in the Middle East, the Pentagon said.
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| US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with British Defense Minister Grant Shapps at the Pentagon in Washington, US, January 31, 2024 |
They discussed issues
including “the escalating attacks by Iran-aligned militia groups on US troops
in the Middle East” and “the illegal Houthi attacks on international shipping
in the Red Sea,” as well as humanitarian assistance for Gaza and support for
Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement.
“Secretary Austin thanked
Secretary Shapps for the United Kingdom’s steadfast support and leadership in
coalition efforts to stave off further Houthi aggression, while defending naval
and international commercial vessels exercising navigational rights and
freedoms,” Ryder said, referring to attacks on shipping by the Iran-backed
Yemeni rebels.
US and British forces have
launched joint strikes aimed at reducing the Houthis’ ability to target vessels
transiting the key Red Sea trade route — attacks the rebels say are in support
of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is at war with Hamas.
US and allied forces in Iraq,
Syria and Jordan have been attacked more than 165 times since mid-October, many
of them claimed by a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that opposes
American support for Israel in the Gaza conflict and the presence of
Washington’s troops in the region.
On Sunday, a drone struck a
military base in northeastern Jordan, killing three US soldiers and wounding
more than 40 — the first American military deaths in an attack in the Middle
East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in early October.
Washington blamed Iran-backed
militants for the attack, vowing a decisive response.
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