have now been scrapped cattle has been on the sea and land blockade by saudi arabia the united arab emirates bahrain and egypt since june of 2017 wolf if i have released a statement saying council had always been open to the idea of an expanded tournament in 2022 but after joint analysis both parties have concluded that due to the advanced age of preparations and the need for a detailed assessment of the potential logistical impact on qatar more time would be required and a decision couldn't be taken before the deadline of june it was therefore decided not to further pursue this option. james dorsey is a middle east expert with the s. rajaratnam school of international studies in singapore he says the fee for decision was a foregone conclusion i think with that we have had months or weeks of basically just cussing heart air and something that was in my mind illusionary with other words culture was willing to play this out it's certainly became clear after kuwait gnomon said that they would not be able to accommodate fish in an expanded world cup and the idea that infantino was putting forward that a

were invited and because apparently so the arabia and it's such a light countries the united arab emirates and bahrain have basically run out of ammunition if you will and certainly after two years of stalemate they're poor it gets qatar has basically failed and now everyone is trying to. see if there are new scenarios new options to. explore. i think the three summits specially the arab and gulf summit stick in place there i think it's important that in and to see what if things go amala let's talk about iran because iran will undoubtedly be front and center in all these discussions in those three big meetings that you just talked about is it a unified position on iran amongst arab leaders and if not really achieve any consensus on iran. there are there is no consensus among arab and islamic countries on iran certainly not behind the so would you position on iran meaning i think everyone now especially after the us than thrum himself said that he doesn't want the regime change in iran and and that the united states only seeking to. block iran from. developing nuclear weapons as he put it as if the tw

saudia arabia, the united arab emirates, bahrain, and egypt cut off diplomatic and economic ties with they accuse the qataris of being too close to iran, and supporting islamist terrorist groups. here's lyse doucet again. it is an important symbol, the fact that the prime minister was also the interior minister, the most senior qatari official that has accepted the invitation from king salamon of saudi arabia. this is the first official contact between the monarchy since those blockades were imposed in 2017 on qatar. the fact is that the qatari emir did not show up. the invitation was to be the emir. this was supposed to be the ruler. but still, the lease and signalled that at least they're in the same place or in the holy site of islam but no one has any illusions about how difficult it is going to be to remove the animosities in the suspicions between these two sides. qatar, for example, has a relationship with iran turning to iran when he needed transportation and economic and political links in light of the isolation by its neighbour, so it certainly doesn't want to condemn iran h

looking at the possibility of staging games in neighboring countries both saudi arabia the united arab emirates and bahrain sending a blockade of cats are and quite an arm and lacking infrastructure the idea has been abandoned by underwater sure writes for inside world football he says this is a big setback for the thief of presidents. this is a significant blow for for johnny continue who was very keen to pull this off not least because it would have generated somewhere in the region of 302400 1000000 extra dollars but you know as soon as it was mooted a couple of years ago in juneau took it up and ran with it it became virtually a sort of pet project but as soon as the findings of this be for feasibility study came out it was always going to be a tall order it's true because our neighbors. have imposed this block in this ongoing blockade which made it very difficult if not impossible to share the tournament with then you had to be shared it was going to be expanded but they obviously couldn't do it nor could own man who recently said it simply didn't have the facilities so that kind of world out any hope

the possibility of staging games in neighboring countries but with saudi arabia the united arab emirates and bahrain sending a blockade of cuts on kuwait under a man like an infrastructure. has been abandoned. let's talk mansour underwater sure who writes for inside world football and you just walk us through the timing of this announcement by faith. what you're hi andy i mean this is a significant blow for so johnny i'm going to know who was very good to pull this off not least because it would have generated somewhere in the region of 302400 1000000 extra dollars but you know as soon as it was mooted a couple of years ago it was a juno took it up and ran with it it became virtually a sort of pet project but as soon as the findings of this fee for feasibility study came out it was always going to be a tall order even though it went you know interestingly said that 90 percent of the fee for membership were in favor of adding 16 more finalists what this announcement is affectively done is bring the decision forward by 2 weeks i mean a recommendation was due to be made one way or the other by the fee

the possibility of staging games in neighboring countries but with saudi arabia the united arab emirates and bahrain maintaining a blockade of cats and co-writes an arm and lacking infrastructure the idea has been abandoned by underwater shore rides for inside world football he says this is a big setback for the faith of presidents. this is a significant blow for for johnny continue who was very keen to pull this off not least because it would have generated some in the region of 302400 1000000 extra dollars but you know as soon as it was mooted a couple of years ago into no took it up and ran with it it became virtually a sort of pet project but as soon as the findings of this be for feasibility study came out it was always going to be a tall order it's records our neighbors. have imposed this block in this ongoing blockade which made it very difficult if not impossible to share the tournament with then you had to be shared it was going to be expanded but they obviously couldn't do it nor could own man who recently said it simply didn't have the facilities so that it kind of rolled out any hopes of

central command, for example, the troops who were deployed not only in iraq, but in the united arab emirates or bahrainit or saudi arabia, that the iranian revolutionary guard will regard them as a terrorist group. >> that's right, wolf. the revolutionary guard has regional reach. i mean, they are active supporting hamas. they're supporting hezbollah. they're active in supporting the houthis in yemen. we know this. and they certainly have the ability to create more havoc and more problems not just for, again, our troops and our forces, but those of our allies and partners. so it's a very significant threat. >> everybody, stand by. we're following all the breaking stories, including some political developments. jill biden, former vice president joe biden's wife, has sat down with cnn to discuss her revealing and candid new book about her marriage, her career, her family. she spoke to her own dana bash. we'll have that when we come back. ou need it. with licensed agents available 24/7. it's not just easy. it's having-a-walrus-in-goal easy! roooaaaar! it's a walrus! ridiculous! yes! nice save, big guy! go

saudi arabia and the united arab emirates will attend a conference in bahrain next month part of u.s. president on palestine and vestment plan the palestine liberation organization and hamas have called for an arab boycott of the meeting organized by trump senior adviser jared christian or. the acting u.s. defense secretary is downplaying the possibility of war with iran patrick shanahan says the deployment of additional forces to the gulf will limit tehran's ability to attack and made the comments after briefing congress mike hanna reports. congress has been demanding more information for weeks and finally it was provided by the members of the trumpet ministration secretary of state mike pump aoe in the acting secretary of defense patrick shanahan held separate creeping sessions in both the house and the senate. patrick shanahan arguing that the recent deployment of a carry a strike force to the region has played a role in controlling the crisis we have deterred attacks based on our repository of assets to turn attacks against american forces. our biggest focus at this point is to pr

to mediate in the dispute between cats and the blockade in countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front that the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security. but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote any future when you have as in what proper what are my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf assault. the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instead of

my pleasure a saudi arabia and the united arab emirates tending a conference in bahrain next month as part of u.s. president donald trump's investment plan for palestine but the p.l.o. and hamas have called for an arab boycotts of the meeting all denies by trump senior adviser jared kushner. a turkey's main opposition candidate for the mayor of istanbul is launching his election campaign. won the vote in march between the act party candidate but he was stripped of that victory the election body canceled the result after accusations of irregularities by president ones governing party the new vote will be held in june simca solo as the latest from istanbul. the countdown has begun for stumble mayoral rerun which is going to take place on june 20th free the opposition candidate mr economic model who won the 1st round which took place in march launched his election campaign today he says this campaign is based on the rights freedom and the economy and he says what is good to do is just listen to the nice self he stumbles citizens he won the 1st one after the 1st election in march with a s

to mediate in the dispute between cats and the blockade in countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front that the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security. but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote any future when you have that as in what proper what are my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf assault. the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instea

to mediate in the dispute between cats and the blockading countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front to the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security. but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote any future when you have that as in what proper what are my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf assault. the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instead

to mediate in the dispute between cats and the blockade in countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front to the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security. but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote any future when you have as in what proper what are my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf assault. the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instead of un

saudi arabia the united arab emirates will attend a conference in bahrain next month part of u.s. president donald trump's palestine investment plan the palestine liberation organization and a mosque call for an arab boycott of the meeting organized by trump senior adviser gerry questioner. would be more likely to have 2 hours in paris for meetings with france's president mandela macron after deepening u.n. concern about how far is military offensive on tripoli against the internationally recognized government there so the headlines keep it here on al-jazeera we have another recap of headlines in just a bit in the meantime inside story is that next. when you're exposed to lists finally make a breakthrough mainstream politicians face a challenge from the far right as 400000000 europeans vote in this week's e.u. parliament elections how will voting shape the future of the continent this is inside story. hello and welcome to this special edition of inside story from london i'm barbara sero the world's 2nd largest democratic election starts on thursday voters and 28 countries will cho

gulf is meant to deter iran from launching an attack saudi arabia and the united arab emirates will attend a conference in bahrainnext month after u.s. president donald trump's palestine investment plan palestine liberation organization organization and hamas have called for an arab boycott of the meeting organized by senior adviser jared kushner libyan warlord khalifa haftar is in paris for meetings with french president emmanuel mccraw after us forces have been attacking tripoli against the internationally recognized government there the un special envoy for libya is warning the country is on the verge of a prolonged civil war. briggs it uncertainty may have led to another big business casualty with manufacturing giant british steel collapsing the u.k. based company was hoping to secure a bailout from the government for the high court has ordered it into compulsory liquidation the industrial giant employs 5000 workers directly with another 20000 jobs involved in its supply chain british prime minister theresa may is coming under renewed pressure from right wing m.p.'s within her own party over another plan to s

attempting to mediate a dispute between cats and the blockading countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front. the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security. but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote any future when you have as in what proper what are my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf assault the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instead of uniti

to mediate in the dispute between cats and the blockading countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front to the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security. but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote me if i may have that as in what proper what are my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf us all. the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instead of unitin

different camps of you have the camp of hardliners in the region led by saudi arabia and bahrain and the united arab emirates who seek to have a more hardline policy toward the islamic republic of iraq and then be also have countries like. like kuwait. and different iraq iraq and lebanon who do not want to see a confrontation between the u.s. and iran and who believe in a more conciliatory posture toward the islamic republic now the proposal by iran for non aggression treaty is a good idea but really it's not realistic for 2 reasons number one as long as iran does not that for us its problem with the united states it cannot have a normal relations with the major countries in the region that is a fact that iran should not be there in independence for he is 2nd to me but perhaps even more important the threat perceptions that the rania's have is very different than the threat perceptions that the near the arab countries in the region especially hard on yourself for you ron the real threat comes from the united states and the perception that the u.s. is really after regime change now for the arab countries the

saudi arabia and the united arab emirates will attend a conference in bahrain next month part of u.s. president donald trump's palestine investment plan the palestine liberation organization and hamas have called for an arab boycott of the meeting organized by trump's senior adviser jared question. our thousands of students have been marching in the streets of algeria's capital calling for free and fair elections the protesters want all politicians connected to former president bill to flicker to step down including the interim president and prime minister the presidential election is set for early july but opponents fear it will be manipulated by the political elite. judges in france are forced doctors to resume life support for a man at the center of a debate over whether his life should be ended vincent lambert suffered severe brain damage in a motorcycle accident 11 years ago 42 year old's been on life support ever since and is paralyzed from the neck down doctors agreed to switch off life support on monday at his wife's request but an appeals court has overturned that decision ou

to mediate in the dispute between cats and the blockading countries of saudi arabia bahrain the united arab emirates and egypt. what the saudis want to do is to try to project a united front to. the iranian regime interfered in our internal affairs and develop ballistic and nucular weapons it affects navigation in international oil this is a naked aggression against our stability and international security but iraq objected to a communique attacking iran issued later which supported the rights of saudi arabia and the u.a.e. to defend their interests following what they say were attacks on shipping and oil installations and i quote any if when you have that as in what proper what i my brothers in the midst of this tense time and the quick developments and a tense regional and international environment full of threats we are watching before our eyes the escalation of a regional and international crisis which can turn into a war that will engulf assault. the saudis may have the support of the united states but some observers think their tactics are high risk when the g.c.c. is so divided instead of uni

saudi arabia and the united arab emirates due to attend a conference in bahrain next month as part of u.s. president donald trump's investment plan for palestine but the p.l.o. and hamas of call for an hour a boycott of the meeting organized by trump's senior advisor sharon to push the. now the libyan warlord only for half a ton has rejected french appeals to put a halt to the fighting talks between the half time and president paris failed to reach an agreement on a cease fire as the tash a butler joins us live from paris but just tell us what's emerged from the meeting between the half dollar. well this was a meeting between the french president and the libyan warlord khalifa haftar behind it took place behind closed doors and it comes nearly 7 weeks after have launched an offensive to try and capture tripoli tripoli where the un backed government is based now look very few details actually emerge from this meeting but the lease say did give us a few lines what they said was that i have to told my craw that as far as he was concerned the conditions are not in place in libya for a cea

intelligence that iran was planning to escalate against them, talking about saudi arabia, bahrain, united arab emiratesxies in the region. there was a report which came out saying israel had also passed that intelligence to us officials, that iran was planning it. in a terrorist -type attack against us interests? not necessarily against us interests. it could have been against us allies in the region. iran has or has been clever in the past to have plausible deniability, to not to leave their fingerprints. with this statement the us is trying to pre—empt iranian activity and make it clear that if you attack us interests or allies, we are going to hold iran responsible not its proxies. what kind of message and effect does sending an aircraft carrier have? the aircraft carrier was on its way through the persian gulf in any case. but it is intended to show iran the united states, if iran chooses to escalate, the us is prepared to retaliate. this is in contrast to the obama administration which was always seeking to de—escalate with a run. the trump administration, some officials, like john bolton, are see

going to keep all of our options in there you know saudi arabia in the united arab emirates due to attend a conference in bahrain next month as part of u.s. president donald trump's investment plan for palestine but the p.l.o. and hamas of call for an hour a boycott of the meeting organized by senior advisor. to bomb explosions that killed at least 9 people in the somali capital mogadishu in one attack a car bomb targeting a convoy of politicians heading towards the presidential palace a member of parliament was among those killed. was behind the attack. a huge explosion half in that district point where. we have lost a young child. the soldiers and civilians and many more injured the blast destroyed our homes and we don't have much to rebuild mother china is accusing the u.s. of economic bullying against its tech firms the foreign minister while he says u.s. sanctions on chinese companies such as well we were aimed at hindering his country's development wang's comments come despite washington's decision to temporally ease restrictions on the chinese tech giant. british companies even vodafone are the latest to

saudi arabia and the united arab emirates due to attend a conference in bahrain next month as part of u.s. president donald trump's investment plan to palestine but the p.l.o. and hamas of cool fun are a boycott of the meeting organized by trump's senior advisor. china is accusing the u.s. of economic bullying against its tech firms the foreign minister one need says u.s. sanctions on chinese companies such as who are way were aimed at hindering his country's development wang's comments come despite washington's decision to temporarily ease restrictions on the chinese tech giant. british companies even vodafone are the latest to distance themselves from hawaii and the u.k. chip design that they are and will suspend all ties with a chinese firm some of the lego has moved. the british based chip designer whose products power process is from chip makers to companies such as apple has said that it was now be locking war way from accessing technology that is now on the move comes after u.s. government ban on the chinese firm a.r.m. employees have now been told to cease all active contracts

object off the coast of the united arab emirates iran is describing reports of attacks on saudi arabia and u.a.e. ships as alarming and called for an investigation egypt in bahrain the gulf cooperation council general and the arab league have all denounced the act of sabotage sweetness reopen the rape investigation and julia sanjian is seeking his extradition from the u.k. wiki leaks founder was arrested last month at the ecuadorian embassy in london where he spent 7 years after jumping bail he denies the swedish rape allegations for 9 years ago the u.s. also wants to extradite a song over wiki leaks release at thousands of classified documents. i have today taken the decision to reopen the preliminary investigation if the uranium going out and he came off to review in the preliminary investigation in its current state my assessment is that there is still probable cause to suspect that mr sounds committed great. britain has more from london. the reason why mary and ny the prosecutor back then decided to hold the case against julian 2017 was because she saw no prospect of being able to continue pursuing the case here at the time was still holed up in the ecuadori

its headquarters in bahrain there's been an american military presence in quite since 991 skills for u.s. forces make regular use of facilities and among other. united arab emirates for more than 15 years there's been no formal u.s. military presence in saudi arabia u.s. operations at the air base just south of riyadh ended in 2003 but ties between the 2 countries militaries are strong and the kingdom has long term or is a long term buyer of u.s. hardware america's support for the saudi u.a.e. campaign in yemen has also become a significant political issue in the u.s. rodger shanahan is a research fellow at the lower institute for international policy and a former australian army officer he says the narrative surrounding the u.s. department of war ships is more dangerous for the deployment itself. i think we have to separate the actual deployments tens of carry a better program and they fight to prove planned and helps a patriot missile batteries reach something that is new york separate those from the language suits him and from washington so the narrative of washington is only hardening of the approach to iran and its use in ney's normally sequenced military de

so i would say they managed to get some arab countries, convinced bahrain to host this, for heavens sake. convinced saudi arabia and the united emirates does even qatar announced they are attending. the u.s. can use desperate means to threaten, cajole, broad, whatever they want, other countries. this administration has used these tactics, sanctions, very cruel measures, they can punish the sick in terms of defining hospitals in jerusalem or they can punish students by suspending scholarships, or whatever. so they have done this. we'reen they are saying holding an international workshop to see how to make a palestinian lives better how to give them more quality of life while carrying out and economic integration of the region. we are not stupid. our own insults intelligence, it is an insult to the requirement of peace and to the international community and to the people who are attending and to the people who are e tryg to justify b by saying let the leadership do something good for its own people. get the israeli boot off ournecks. stop the american threats to defund all of palestine. get israel to give us our money that it is stealin

unknown object off the coast of the united arab emirates iran described reports of attacks on saudi and iraqi ships as alarming and called for an investigation egypt and bahrain and the gulf cooperation council and the arab league have denounced the quote act of sabotage still more about all of this without levi zs the rector of the iran project that the international crisis group and he joins us via skype from washington d.c. thank you for joining us here on al-jazeera perhaps quite a bit of a confusing picture that is emerging what do you make of it. look it's too soon to judge whether iranians had any involvement with the accidents and the u.a.e. and the gulf but the reality is that if you look at the context washington has significantly escalated tensions in a region that was already experiencing an enormous amount of turmoil and so it's not unusual for this to come out to surface in other places and this could very well be the beginning of an escalator it's very spiral given the amount of friction between iran and the u.s. and their respective allies in the region and the number of non-state actors who might take this isn't zone of their own not necessar

headquarters in bahrain there's been an american military presence in kuwait since the 1991 gulf war and u.s. forces also make regular use of facilities in oman and the united arab emirates for than 15 years there's been no formal u.s. military presence in saudi arabia u.s. operations at the braves just ended in 2003 however ties between the 2 countries militaries are strong and the kingdom has long been a major buyer of u.s. weapons america's support for the saudi campaign in yemen has also become a significant political issue in the united states rodger shanahan is a research fellow at the lowy institute for international policy and formerly an australian army officer he says the narrative surrounding this u.s. deployment of warships is more dangerous than the deployment itself. i think we have to separate the actual deployments tens of kerry a better program and a 52 proclaimed and perhaps a patriot missile batteries something that is new york separate those from the langley sits in a from washington so the narrative washington is only hardening of the approach to iran and its use in a normally sequenced military deployments to back that up so i don't think we should

unknown object off the coast of the united arab emirates iran is describing reports of attacks on saudi arabian and us ships alarming and also an investigation egypt in bahrain the gulf operation council's general and the arab league have all denounced the act of sabotage palestinian activists or faces a possible threat from saudi arabia says he's being targeted because the expose details about the crown prince. but he says after the death of saudi journalist the market shows keep mohammed bin solomon shifted its focus towards arab activists opposing him he says his work with the washington post ownership is triggered more hostility from saudi arabia. by 2017 certainly by 2018 arabic language twitter went from being the heart of this to you to full dynamic public's our public sphere to being a swamp presided over by some of the troll most or so little qahtani and his minions the leading twitter intellectuals from saudi arabia were silenced jailed exiled or killed m.b.'s of autonomy managed to subvert twitter from being a tool of free expression to a weapon for social control and propaganda sweetness reopened a rape investigation into chilling the sanjian is

object off the coast of the united arab emirates iran this is driving reports of attacks on saudi arabia and u.a.e. ships alarming and called for an investigation egypt in bahrain and they call for cooperation councils general and the arab league have denounced the act of sabotage . cholera is on the rise and yemen recorded more than 200000 suspected cases this year and seasonal rains are helping spread the disease among both warrior you many's and others as well it's a reports. exposed to the elements hungry and struck by disease africans who have crossed the sea from. a better life are the latest victims of yemen scholar at demick this dusty hospital in the southern province of huge has become a makeshift war. security forces brought the sick from a migrant detention center but the hospital was full many have already died of the disease there's barely enough food to move and hospital staff worked. with limited supplies to keep survivors alive. today we were fed dring lunch one piece of bread and one flat bread nothing much and the people here are still hungry it is not enough there is so much heat and there is no air conditioning in the detention center even

headquarters in bahrain there's been an american military presence in kuwait since the $1991.00 gulf war and american forces make regular use of its facilities in amman and the united arab emirates for more than 15 years there's been no formal u.s. military presence in saudi arabia u.s. operations of the base just south of riyadh ended in 2003 but ties between the 2 countries miller. trees are strong and the kingdom has long been a major buyer of american weapons america's support for the campaign in yemen has also become a significant political issue in the united states rodger shanahan is research fellow at the lowy institute for international policy and formerly an australian army officer he says the narrative surrounding the u.s. deployment of warships is more dangerous than the deployment itself. i think we have to separate the actual deployments in 10 years of the aircraft carrier battle group and a 52 probe planned and perhaps a patriot missile batteries something that is new york separate those from the language it's emanating from washington so the narrative in washington is only hardening of the approach to iran and its use in a normally sequenced military deployments