CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie maintained that a U.S. “priority is deterring Iran’s destabilising activities, which remains the biggest threat to stability in the Middle East”. He further asserted that “our posture in the region has had a deterrent effect on Iran and made it more difficult for them to deny attribution for their malign activities”, citing “a robust force posture that includes ships, airpower and ballistic missile defence capabilities, and of course there are many more things we do in concert with our friends in the region that contribute to that end as well”.