CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports that Saudi Arabia has paid the United States an estimated $500 million to assist the cost of US troop deployments in the kingdom, according to one unnamed US defense official:

The payment was made in December last year. President Donald Trump asserted last week in an interview with Fox News that Saudi Arabia had "already deposited $1 billion in the bank."

Updated 4:25 p.m.

The FBI believes the Saudi Arabian government “almost certainly” helps its citizens flee the country after they are accused of serious crimes, “undermining the US judicial process,” according to a newly declassified document obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

The surreptitious action is done, in part, to spare the wealthy Persian Gulf kingdom embarrassment, the FBI said. Intelligence officials believe the flights from justice will continue without intervention by the American authorities.

By Robert Inlakesh

The United States may have planned the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani as a way of attempting to both keep US President Donald Trump in power by making him appear strong and also driving a wedge between the regional resistance axis, led by Iran.

If the US continually claims that none of its soldiers have been killed or injured and continues to downplay the Iranian response. If Trump then decides not to escalate and also pulls his troops out of Iraq, we will know that this was perhaps their strategy from the beginning. Trump would then appear - due to US media manipulation - as a strong president, to his own people, also being a president who has followed up on his promise to get out of Iraq.

This may be a strategy that is employed, but perhaps this strategy will backfire very badly if they miscalculate in any areas. If the US acts aggressively, it could start a Middle East wide war.

Iran launched a missile strike on US positions in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of its IRGC General Qasem Soleimani. According to US statements, this attack didn't result in any casualties and only caused minor damage to American bases.

Head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh has stated that the 8 January missile attack on American bases in neighbouring Iraq was only the start of a series of attacks that will take place across the entire region, Tasnim News Agency reported. The general further shared that the country had hundreds of missiles ready for launch, when it carried out strikes and added that Tehran conducted cyberattacks on the same day against American plane and drone navigation systems.

I took a look at how the CEOs at the top five Pentagon contractors were affected by this surge, using the most recent SEC information on their stock holdings.

Northrop Grumman executives saw the biggest increase in the value of their stocks after the U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Suleimani on January 2. Shares in the B-2 bomber maker rose 5.43 percent by the end of trading the following day.

Wesley Bush, who turned Northrop Grumman’s reins over to Kathy Warden last year, held 251,947 shares of company stock in various trusts as of his final SEC Form 4 filing in May 2019. (Companies must submit these reports when top executives and directors buy and sell company stock.) Assuming Bush is still sitting on that stockpile, he saw the value grow by $4.9 million to a total of $94.5 million last Friday.

New Northrop Grumman CEO Warden saw the 92,894 shares she’d accumulated as the firm’s COO expand in value by more than $2.7 million in just one day of post-assassination trading.

The rationale for Soleimani’s death is based on accusations as the world’s number one terrorist and being responsible for hundreds of American deaths in pursuit of Iranian aggression. Any claim of aggression by middle eastern countries glosses over the fact that they are defending their homelands in opposition to US military invasions. It is the US who are the aggressors by invading a country 6,000 miles away to steal their natural resources and to fight on behalf of creating Israeli hegemony throughout the Middle East.

Does any Middle East country have the right of self defense when a foreign army invades their sovereign soil and what does it say when the world’s leading purveyors of war, death and destruction point the finger to those fighting to defend their homeland? The truth is that every country where the US has initiated conflict is no military threat to the US – until they are invaded as they respond to protect their home turf.

Seymour Melman explained that “every major aspect of American life is…shaped by our Permanent War Economy” — peace and stability anathema notions to bipartisan US policymakers.

Militarism, endless wars of aggression, and corporate handouts come at the expense of unmet human needs.

Anti-nuclear activist/physician Helen Caldicott stressed that the US “addiction (to wars) in (the) nuclear age, (could) destroy all life on earth, creating the final epidemic of the human race.”

Trump is captive to dark forces controlling him, a geopolitical know-nothing businessman/TV personality transformed into a warrior president, escalating inherited wars, risking new ones.

Endless wars serve US imperial aims. World peace and stability defeat them — what was likely explained to Trump straightaway after taking office.

Possibly Trump will apply “crippling sanctions” as a cover for withdrawal from most of the Middle East. Iran wants the US out, and Trump’s original intention was to withdraw before Russiagate forced him to stay. Thus, both Trump and Iran have a common interest in US withdrawal. Although the Iranian missiles killed no one, they did demonstrate to Israel that the Iranian missiles have pin point accuracy. As Israel is a small land area, the accuracy of Iranian missiles possibly has changed Israel’s mind about provoking a war. If Israel also stands down, perhaps the crisis is over.

US Regional Presence Makes Middle East Peace and Stability Unattainable
On the other hand, the neoconservatives will be unhappy. They see chaos in Iran as a way of spreading instability into the Russian Federation. The military/security complex will be unhappy as US withdrawal would downsize their profits. US oil interests will be unhappy to lose the Iraqi oil.

Yemen's Houthi group did not launch an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities in September, according to a confidential report by U.N. sanctions monitors seen by Reuters on Wednesday, bolstering a U.S. accusation that Iran was responsible.

The United States, European powers and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the Sept. 14 attack on the Saudi Aramco <2222.SE> oil plants in Abqaiq and Khurais, dismissing a quick claim of responsibility by the Iran-allied Houthis. Tehran denied any involvement.

The report by the independent U.N. experts to the Security Council Yemen sanctions committee said, "That despite their claims to the contrary, the Houthi forces did not launch the attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais on 14 September 2019."

The findings of the U.N. report come amid escalating tensions in the region after the United States killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad and Tehran retaliated by firing missiles at military facilities housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

International NGOs have suspended work in southwestern Yemen after weekend attacks by unknown fighters.

After almost five years of war, millions of Yemenis have become reliant on aid for survival, but they now fear they'll be cut off from this crucial lifeline after attacks on international aid groups operating in their country.

A number of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have suspended their work in Al-Dhale’e region after their offices were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades over the weekend.

The attacks in southwest Yemen follow a campaign carried out against the aid groups, accusing them of being "enemies of Islam" and using their work as a front for missionary work.

Fahd, a teacher who preferred not to use his real name, told Middle East Eye that they heard explosions on both Saturday and Sunday and later found out that the offices of several aid organisations were hit.

International NGOs have suspended work in southwestern Yemen after weekend attacks by unknown fighters.

After almost five years of war, millions of Yemenis have become reliant on aid for survival, but they now fear they'll be cut off from this crucial lifeline after attacks on international aid groups operating in their country.

A number of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have suspended their work in Al-Dhale’e region after their offices were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades over the weekend.

The attacks in southwest Yemen follow a campaign carried out against the aid groups, accusing them of being "enemies of Islam" and using their work as a front for missionary work.

Fahd, a teacher who preferred not to use his real name, told Middle East Eye that they heard explosions on both Saturday and Sunday and later found out that the offices of several aid organisations were hit.

Cross-border shelling by Saudi Arabian forces against a popular marketplace on the Yemeni side of the border killed at least 17 people, according to locals. Indications are that everyone killed was a civilian, and the Saudis have not commented on why they attacked.

The sources said 12 Ethiopian migrants were among those killed in Yemen, and that 15 people were wounded and taken to hospitals for treatment. The market has been attacked several times by Saudi forces.

The market doesn’t seem to have any military significance, but it is in Saada Province, which is the main province of the Houthi movement. This seems to be reason enough for the Saudis to regularly attack them.

The criminal trials of the 11 scapegoats men formally accused of participating in the killing and dismemberment of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi are now over, and the end result was exactly what most expected. That is, several royal aides implicated in the killing were let go without punishment, while five others who are probably only tangentially related to the case (if at all) have been sentenced to death.

As a reminder, in Saudi Arabia, a death sentence means one thing: A very public beheading.

Most of those arrested in relation to Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul will eventually go free, but most members of the global community expected that, as the process was seen as tainted from the beginning, and those men truly responsible for masterminding Khashoggi's murder would eventually walk free.

To date, Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye by Israeli soldiers since the demonstrations began last March leaving them permanently blind.

Media coverage and social media posts went wild when Palestinian photojournalist Muath Amarneh was blinded in his left eye after he was hit by a rubber bullet while covering a protest in the West Bank.

However, Amarneh was far from unique; Israeli snipers targeting participants in Gaza's weekly Great Return March protests have aimed for the legs – and eyes. To date, Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye since the demonstrations began March 30, 2018 – leaving them permanently blind.

Russia has started creating a local force that will operate in northeastern Syria areas abandoned by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, several Syrian media outlets claim.

According to reports, the Russian military will train and equip a new pro-government militia in the province of al-Hasakah. This militia will be deployed at former positions of the SDF, which have not been taken by the Syrian Army.

Since the start of the Russian military operation in Syria, Moscow has trained and equipped several pro-government factions that successfully operate in the provinces of Aleppo, Homs, Daraa and near Damascus. The Russian military also helped to create the 5th Assault Corps of the Syrian Army. The al-Hasakah-based militia will likely be used as a part of the wider plan to de-escalate the situation on the border with Turkey.

So what were all those deaths for?

President Donald Trump believes in America First except when it comes to the Saudi royal family. Then it is Saudi Arabia first.

At the end of November, U.S. military leaders were in Riyadh negotiating the employment terms for the royal’s new bodyguards. That is, the plan for an expanded American military presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), including Patriot missiles, Sentinel radars, a THAAD air defense system, fighter aircraft, and other equipment, as well as personnel, who will eventually number around 3,000.

As should be expected, the government is attempting to stage-manage the shooting at the Pensacola Naval Base. The Pentagon said sailors killed by a Saudi student reportedly angry over the serial murder of Muslims by the US government “showed exceptional heroism and bravery in the face of evil.”

The alleged shooter, Mohammed Alshamrani, shot dead by police, was a Saudi national said to be enrolled in pilot training the Florida naval base. It is the same naval base linked to the supposed 9/11 hijackers.

Sources told ABC News that investigators are working to determine if the shooter was acting out because of religious or ideological reasons or if there was some sort of problem or hostility that developed in the course of the training at Pensacola.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) ripped the Trump administration on Tuesday over its handling of last week's deadly shooting by a member of the Saudi military at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla.

The Democratic presidential hopeful, who has been a vocal critic of the Saudi kingdom, knocked President Trump in an interview on Hill.TV, saying that his administration needs to call the shooting "for what it is."

”This was a terrorist attack that took the lives of three American service members and injured eight others,” Gabbard said during an appearance on Hill.TV's “Rising.”

“We need to call it for what it is instead of what President Trump has done with his own remarks, with Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo basically putting out messages as though they are the spokespersons for the Saudi Kingdom rather than standing up for our country’s national security and what’s in the best interest of our country.”

The Trump Administration has announced a policy change that looks like it could be a major turning point in US policy toward Yemen, announcing that they no longer consider the Shi’ite Houthi movement in Yemen to be a proxy of the Iranian government.

That stance is one initially pushed by the Saudi government to justify the Yemen War, and the US was only too willing to mirror it. This was in spite of the Houthis having substantial ideological differences with Iran, little direct contact, and not being the same type of Shi’ites.

The US did not explain their change in stance, but it may reflect Saudi Arabia’s ongoing peace talks with the Houthis, as the US couldn’t possibly support a peace deal that involved an actual Iranian-linked faction.

After 1,700 days of a Saudi-led war on impoverished Yemen, more than 3,600 children have been killed, 800 paralyzed and 400,000 others hit with malnutrition.

According to a report released on Sunday by the Yemeni-based Organization for Women and Children’s Rights, 7,500 children have fallen victim to the ongoing Saudi-led war, since its start in March 2015.

Of these ill-fated children, 3,672 were killed and 800 others were paralyzed, it said, adding that the rest were either maimed or received other kinds of life altering injuries.

The war of aggression also hit 400,000 other Yemeni children with malnutrition, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network further cited the report as saying.

Separately on Sunday, Yemen’s health ministry also confirmed that 800 children are suffering from permanent disabilities due to wounds they received in Saudi-led airstrikes during the past five years.

Six Saudi nationals were taken into custody for questioning near the Florida naval base where an Air Force trainee - also from Saudi Arabia - opened fire Friday morning, killing three before a sheriff's deputy shot and killed him.

According to the New York Times, three of the Saudis were filming the attack. It is unknown whether they were students at the base, or whether they are connected to the gunman.

The shooting spanned two floors in a classroom, according to Sheriff David Morgan of Escambia Country. Two deputies were shot in the ensuing gun battle and are expected to recover.

The gunman, identified as Saudi Air Force second lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, used a locally bought Glock 45 9mm handgun with an extended magazine, and was carrying between four and six more magazines.

In his last message on Twitter confirmed by AFP, Alshamrani wrote that America is a nation of evil.

Providing additional information on the fresh tussle between the United States (US) and Iran, after the US navy spotted missile parts linked to Iran, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) came out with the story that says the Trump administration is looking to deploy around 14,000 more troops in the Middle East. The news relies on anonymous US officials.

Key quotes
The Trump administration is considering a significant expansion of the U.S. military footprint in the Middle East, including dozens of more ships, other military hardware and as many as 14,000 additional troops to counter Iran.

SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
The Israeli government is aiming to increase the volume of Israel’s defence exports, reported Globes, which has revealed the main points of the plan for the first time.

The project, being overseen by the Defence Ministry’s International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) led by Brigadier General (Res.) Yair Kulas, will begin to be rolled out in early 2020.

According to Globes, the plan is based on “focused seminars for senior commanders in foreign armies”, Israeli military “assistance for promoting sales of Israeli weapons”, and “subsidising small and medium-sized defence companies seeking to sell arms around the world”.

Speaking this week, Kulas said that SIBAT favours a major expansion of agreements between countries, resulting in significant deals for the large defence companies, especially Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

The Saudi-led coalition force in Yemen announced Tuesday it had released 200 Houthi prisoners. The news comes amid a large Houthi air raid on coalition forces and swirling rumors that Riyadh may finally be seeking an exit from the disastrous, four-year-long war.

Houthi Prisoners Repatriated
On Tuesday, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that 200 Houthi prisoners had been released as part of the Stockholm Agreement prisoner exchange, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“The coalition leadership is keen to continue supporting efforts to resolve the crisis in Yemen and to push forward the Stockholm agreement, including the deal related to the exchange of prisoners,” Malki said. He further noted the coalition would allow flights out of Sana’a, the Yemeni capital held by the Houthis since 2014, in order to transfer those who need medical treatment out of the country.

All external foes will be defeated if they make moves against Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander warned at a massive pro-government rally amid protests over fuel price hikes.

Major General Hossein Salami addressed people in downtown Tehran on Monday. He said that the country’s rivals are “no longer capable of anything” in their attacks against the nation.

We have shown patience towards the hostile moves of America, the Zionist regime [Israel] and Saudi Arabia against the Islamic Republic of Iran... but we will destroy them if they cross our red lines.

Thousands have marched on the streets of the country’s capital and gathered on the Enqelan Square (Revolution Square). Calling themselves the ‘Supporters of the Leadership’, the demonstrators waved national flags, carried placards and chanted slogans in support for the Supreme Leader Ali Khanemei and the current government. Some were also seen burning American flags.

SOURCE: MINT PRESS
The 9/11 Report states that “we have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization [al-Qaeda].” The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has used that sentence numerous times defending itself against families of 9/11 victims that are attempting to sue them for financially supporting the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 family member, September Eleventh Advocate, and Jersey girl, Kristen Breitweiser addressed the issue here.

For a long time, the U.S. Government argued that since Saudi Arabia was not on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, the 9/11 families couldn’t sue the Kingdom in a court of law. But in 2016, a bill called the “Justice Against Sponsors Of Terrorism Act (JASTA)” was passed allowing 9/11 families to sue, despite the formality. President Obama attempted to veto the bill but his decision was overridden by Congress.

Saudi citizens found guilty of engaging in homosexuality and feminism could see themselves lashed or imprisoned in the ultraconservative kingdom, lawyers suggested.

The punitive measures could range from fines, to public lashing or even imprisonment, lawyer Nawaf al-Nabati said, according to al-Watan.

The remarks came just hours after Saudi Arabia listed feminism and homosexuality as extremist elements, on Friday, despite the kingdom’s ongoing drive to reform and relax its ultraconservative laws.
Saudi Arabia’s counter-extremism department announced the move on Twitter, where it warned its citizens and nationals to remain cautious against such groups.

"Extremism in all its forms is a societal scourge. It is important to remain cautious,” the statement said, before warning against hardliners who break away from religion to affirm their views.

SOURCE: KRDO
The awkward camera angle is meant to hide the fact that the owner of the phone is filming, but there is no mistaking the outlines of the heavy cargo being deposited on the dock in the Yemeni port of Aden last week.

The distinctive shape of the US-made Oshkosh armored vehicle stands out in the early morning darkness, a piece of military hardware that is currently at the heart of a standoff between some American lawmakers and President Donald Trump’s administration.

Aden is controlled by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, whose main partners are continuing to ship American-made weapons into the country despite bipartisan outrage in Congress over the way the US is backing Riyadh in this bloody and bitter conflict.

Two Former Twitter Employees Charged With Spying For Saudi Arabia, May Be Involved In Khashoggi Murder
For all those still seeking details about Saudi Arabia’s murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it may be time to give Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey a call.

Two former Twitter employees were charged with spying for Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department unveiled on Wednesday in San Francisco, in a case which the WaPo said "raises concerns about the ability of Silicon Valley to protect the private information of dissidents and other users from repressive governments."

The complaint unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco detailed a coordinated effort by Saudi officials to recruit employees at the social media giant to look up the private data of thousands of Twitter accounts. The accounts included those of a popular journalist with more than 1 million followers and other prominent government critics.

The country of Yemen, known in the medieval period as “Green Yemen,” is one of the most extensively terraced areas of the world. There, Yemeni farmers transformed rugged mountain slopes into terraces and built dams like the Great Marib, a structure whose history spans long enough that it was mentioned in the Quran. During the medieval period, Yemen had one of the widest ranges of agricultural crops in all of the Middle East.

SOURCE: MINT PRESS

HODEIDA, YEMEN — The country of Yemen, known in the medieval period as “Green Yemen,” is one of the most extensively terraced areas of the world. There, Yemeni farmers transformed rugged mountain slopes into terraces and built dams like the Great Marib, a structure whose history spans long enough that it was mentioned in the Quran. During the medieval period, Yemen had one of the widest ranges of agricultural crops in all of the Middle East.

More than 100,000 people have died as a result of the war in Yemen, according to an explosive new report by an American NGO.

Based on data collected from a variety of sources, including the United Nations, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED) said the death toll from the four-year-long war was considerably higher than most previous estimates.

Out of the over 100,000 people estimated to have been killed since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's war in 2015 against the Houthi movement, at least 12,000 civilians were killed in direct attacks, the ACLED said.

Already, 2019 has so far been the second deadliest year of the conflict, with more than 20,000 deaths reported. By 2020, ACLED estimated that 102,000 will have been killed as a direct result of violence.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) called for the end of U.S. assistance to Saudi Arabia while speaking at a 9/11 tribute museum in New York City on Tuesday.

“We should not be selling them our weapons. We should not be aiding or providing them with any kind of support so long as they continue with the kind of actions that I’ve just spoken about,” she said of Saudi Arabia.

The Democratic presidential candidate slammed Saudi Arabia for the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul last year as well as for its role in the conflict in Yemen.

She also called for the release of the results of an investigation into whether Saudi Arabia's government or people in its government had any involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

CROWN PRINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA MOHAMMAD BIN SALMAN (L) IS WELCOMED INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI (R) WITH AN OFFICIAL WELCOMING CEREMONY AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN NEW DELHI, INDIA ON FEBRUARY 20, 2019 [INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/HANDOUT/ANADOLU AGENCY]
Just one year after Saudi journalists Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder in his country’s Consulate in Istanbul, world leaders are flocking to Riyadh to attend a flagship investor meeting known as “Davos in the desert”.
Although there has been very little progress in bringing those responsible for the grisly murder to justice, the CIA and several other intelligence agencies believe that the killing was authorised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom.

Five presidents and the heads of some of the world’s biggest banks and arms manufacturers are reported to be among those heading to Saudi Arabia for the potentially lucrative event.

SOURCE: AP
Dem. presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard was joined Tuesday by families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks to demand that federal authorities release the findings of their investigation into the Saudi government's role in the attacks.

Prince Turki criticized congressional representatives on Wednesday for the “horror” and “disdain” they express for Saudi Arabia, saying U.S. lawmakers are unable to perform their jobs to address “issues of racism and racial inequality” and to reform gun ownership laws. He also said that most U.S. media has a “consistently blinkered view” of Saudi Arabia, one that portrays negative events in the kingdom as “being the norm.”

The murder last year of Khashoggi, a U.S resident and Washington Post columnist, as well as the long-running war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the detention of Saudi female activists have all strained the kingdom’s relations with much of the Washington establishment outside the White House. Senior lawmakers in both parties remain unified on the issue of punishing the kingdom.

SOURCE: ZERO HEDGE
When last year Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) hosted his second annual Future Investment Initiative, he was under international condemnation and scrutiny, and his invitation for major investment in modernizing the kingdom was immediately branded with pariah-status by global elites, given the event dubbed "Davos in the Desert" awkwardly came a mere three weeks after the Oct. 2, 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul.

A year later we now know more about the Saudi state-sanctioned murder, with comprehensive investigative reports by the UN and CIA pointing the finger directly at MbS for ordering the grizzly hit and dismemberment, and though last year's "Davos in the Desert" was boycotted by a number of high profile companies and CEOs, this year's MbS-hosted investment forum in Riyadh appears business as usual once again, a mere one short year later.

US special envoy on Iran Brian Hook told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the administration does not consider the withdrawal from Syria to in any way impact US hostility toward Iran.

Hook said the administration remains “very comfortable” with its Iran strategy, and that the “maximum pressure” campaign will continue. He added troops in northern Syria never had an Iran mission set.

Some Senators were eager to make Syria all about Iran, however, with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) claiming Iran was “smiling from ear to ear as Turkey rushed into Syria.” Romney also claimed Turkey’s invasion made Assad stronger.

US officials have told Reuters that in response to the attacks on a pair of Saudi oil refineries in mid-September, the US carried out a cyber attack against Iran, damaging physical hardware in the process.

Such an attack has been alleged before, and these officials are only confirming on condition of anonymity, and even then are refusing to provide any details on what was actually attacked.

The Pentagon said they don’t discuss any of their cyber attacks, and so they are neither going to confirm or deny if they did it. Iran denied that they were attacked, suggesting the officials “must have dreamt it.”

Previously, a source in the Russian Defence Ministry expressed an opinion that American Patriot systems, which were protecting the oil refineries, failed to do their job due to their low efficiency against drone swarm attacks.

Former Director of the Israel Missile Defence Organisation Uzi Rubin has revealed in an interview with the Defence News media outlet that Saudi air defences, namely Patriot systems, failed to repel the combined drone and missile attack on the country’s oil facilities in September due to the aerial assailants flying below the horizon. According to him, the defences were not prepared to detect such targets.

"When it comes to missiles, missile defence sensors will aim above the horizon because the missile is above it and you don’t want clutter. So when it comes to guarding, the issue is things that can sneak in near the ground", he said.

In a step toward implementing a power-sharing deal meant to end fighting in South Yemen between government and separatist forces, Saudi Arabia has temporarily taken control of the port of Aden, the de facto capital of the south.

The deal intends for the Saudis to take the city just long enough to help establish a neutral force with militias from the various sides to police and defend the area. At that point, the Saudis are meant to withdraw, as have the UAE forces.

Under the deal, the UAE-backed separatists, the Southern Transitional Council, are intended to get some additional representation in the Saudi-backed government. Exact terms have yet to be announced.

The US is beefing up military might in the Middle East, saying it will send more troops, fighter jets and missile defense systems to Saudi Arabia amid escalating tensions with Iran.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has authorized the deployment of two fighter squadrons, one Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW), two batteries of Patriot missile defense systems and one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Friday.

This is in addition to the 200 or so troops, Patriots and radar systems whose deployment was announced two weeks ago, and amounts to 3,000 troops “extended or authorized within the last month,” Hoffman clarified.

The United States has announced to deploy a large number of additional forces and equipment to Saudi Arabia, including air defenses and fighter aircraft, a move that officials say will help the kingdom protect itself against the kind of attacks that last month destroyed its oil facilities.

The U.S. will send fighter jets and additional air defenses to Saudi Arabia to defend the kingdom against Iran amid heightened tensions between the two Middle Eastern adversaries, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday.

Esper announced the deployment of several dozen fighter jets along with other aircraft and additional air defenses hours after Iran said two missiles struck one of its oil tankers traveling through the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia.

No one has claimed responsibility for that attack, but it came after months of increased tensions between the two countries.

The deployment is also part of the response to the suspected Iranian missile and drone attack on Saudi oil facilities on Sept. 14.

The recent attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and devastating retaliatory attacks by Yemeni forces exposed Saudi military vulnerabilities. Assaults should not come as a surprise, as it was just a matter of time, when, how and where the Houthis would strike. However, the results of these attacks are more than staggering, as they reveal the incompetence of Saudi military structures and the inability of the kingdom to protect its core infrastructure and defend its troops and territory.

So, why have Saudis experienced one humiliating defeat after another?

An anti-Iran alliance forged between the leaders of the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia is faltering as each have become overwhelmed by their own dilemmas, Israel's leading daily Haaretz reports.

“The three leaders who have led the anti-Iran line in recent years were each absorbed in his own domestic crisis this week,” Haaretz wrote on Thursday.

The Israeli paper pointed to the recently intensified impeachment inquiry surrounding US President Donald Trump and pre-indictment hearings threatening the tenure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the past week as signs that the two leaders were mired in crisis.

Following the brutal killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, one year ago, the Saudi government became something of a toxic commodity in American politics. Several high-profile lobbying and public relations firms dropped the Saudis as a client. Think tanks, including the Brookings Institution, severed ties with the Saudi government. Businesses pulled out of a major conference in Riyadh shortly after Khashoggi’s death.

Over the past two decades, Israel and Arab Gulf monarchies have forged a tacit partnership, increasingly aligning their interests and agendas, while hiding behind a public perception of being enemies.

Saudi-Israeli links are not new. They’ve made covert contacts through back-channels since Sheikh Kamal Adham’s time, when he ran the Saudi General Intelligence Directorate from 1965 to 1979. Though still having no official diplomatic relations, in recent years the Kingdom and Israel have put far less effort into concealing their unspoken strategic partnership.

President Trump’s protection of Saudi Arabia is at best a temporary shield. Veterans, peace and human rights groups, and other interest groups have been pushing Congress to block U.S. military support for the kingdom by invoking provisions of the War Powers Resolution and making amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act. Human rights organizations also have pushed beneficiaries of Mohammed bin Salman’s private charity — among them the New York Public Library and the United Nations—to abandon their connection to the foundation, which the crown prince uses as a propaganda platform.

Yet, one year after Khashoggi’s killing, and 4 ½ years into the brutal Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, Congress and the president have yet to hold Saudi Arabia accountable. That cannot be allowed to stand. On the anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder, we owe it to him to stand up to the Saudi lobby and the president, and once and for all punish the Saudi government for what it has done.

Sources told Reuters that members within Saudi Arabia's ruling family and business elites are increasingly becoming frustrated with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) after the largest-ever attack on Saudi oil facilities on September 14, reported Reuters.

Distinguished members within the ruling Al Saud family have expressed deep concern about MbS' ability to defend and lead the world's largest oil exporter, according to a senior foreign diplomat and five sources with ties to the Al Saud family, all spoke on condition of anonymity to Reuters.

Some of the sources said the September 14 attacks fueled unwanted tensions in the Middle East, especially the threat of imminent war with Iran.

"There is a lot of resentment" about the crown prince's ability to lead, said one of the sources, a member of the Saudi elite with royal connections. "How were they not able to detect the attack?"

In late September, Yemen’s Houthis carried out a large-scale operation against Saudi-led forces on the border with the southern Saudi province of Narjan. According to a spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Houthi Government, the Houthis fully defeated at least 3 brigades of Saudi-backed forces. The Yemeni force killed 500 personnel, injured 2,000 others, destroyed 15 vehicles and seized a large number of weapons and military equipment.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Sari noted that the operation involved a coordinated effort of ground, missile, and air forces. They conducted at least 21 missile and drone strikes on positions of Saudi-led forces. As a result of the operation, the Houthis captured 350km2 from Saudi-led forces.

Brig. Gen. Sari said that aircraft of the Saudi-led coalition conducted at least 300 indiscriminate airstrikes in a desperate attempt to stop the Houthis’ advance. These strikes killed at least 200 coalition-backed personnel, according to the Houthis.