Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Despite nearly $20 billion in orders, the Gulf
Cooperation Council remains without sufficient assets to foil an Iranian
missile war, a report said.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy asserted that the six GCC
states have not acquired sufficient batteries and systems to defend against
Iran. In a report, senior researcher Michael Eisenstadt said Iran was
capable of overcoming the current deployment of U.S. ballisic missile
defense systems as well as those ordered by GCC militaries.

“In recent years, the U.S. and many of its Arab Gulf allies have
acquired large numbers of modern missile defenses, though probably not in the numbers required to defeat Iranian saturation tactics,” the report, titled “The Middle East Missile Environment,” said.

The report said Saudi Arabia was upgrading its BMD network to PAC-3
configuration while the UAE ordered the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, also being considered by Qatar.

“By contrast, Turkey, a key U.S. ally, lacks any kind of missile
defenses, and had to request NATO assistance to deal with the missile threat from Syria,” the report said. “More needs to be done to close this missile gap.”

The report, released earlier this month, cited the American BMD
deployment in the Gulf. Eisenstadt said the U.S. Navy deployed up to three
Aegis-class cruisers in the Gulf as well as another two in the
Mediterranean. In addition, the U.S. Army has stationed PAC-3 and enhanced
PAC-3 systems in such countries as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United
Arab Emirates.

At the same time, at least four GCC states have ordered PAC-2.

The report also urged the GCC to enhance interoperability between its
air forces and that of the United States. The United States maintains two
aerospace expeditionary wings and up to three strike groups in the Gulf.

Iran has sought to intimidate the GCC as well as other rivals in the
region with what the report termed exaggerated claims of Teheran’s missile
and rocket capability. Eisenstadt urged Washington to counter Iranian
psychological warfare.

“Diplomatic and military public affairs and MISO — Military Information
Support Operations — personnel should play a key role in formulating and
implementing U.S. and allied rocket and missile defense strategies, by
deflating frequently exaggerated Iranian claims about their rocket and
missile forces, and publicizing what the U.S. and its allies are doing to
counter them,” the report said.

  Gulf Cooperation Council, PAC-3 missile defense system, Report: Gulf states, Terminal High Altitute Area Defense, Turkey lack defenses against Iran missile war, Washington Institute for Near East Policy