Washington 0
24 October 2019

U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper urged European allies to “contribute their own support to help deter Iranian aggression, promote stability in the region, and defend the international rules-based order”. He argued that “Iran’s continued malign behaviour throughout the Middle East, to include its recent attacks on the Saudi ARAMCO oil facilities, presents a persistent threat to our partners in the region”. The same day, U.S. Secretary of State remarked that “we’ve identified the worst actor there [in the Middle East], the Islamic Republic of Iran. We’ve taken real actions to reduce their capacity to inflict harm, to create instability throughout the Middle East”.

Subscribe to Crisis Group’s Email Updates

Receive the best source of conflict analysis right in your inbox.