Hagel in Bahrain to reassure skittish allies on Iran deal

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel is in Bahrain to reassure US allies in the Persian Gulf region that Washington’s robust military commitment will remain unchanged in the wake of a diplomatic agreement with Iran.

Standing on the massive deck of the Navy’s USS Ponce in Bahrain, Hagel conveyed the message Friday that the United States has no plans to scale back its military deployments or arms sales to the Persian Gulf Arab states.

“I will assure our partners that we’re not going anywhere,” he said before talks with leaders from Bahrain and other regional states.

Iran and six world powers, including the US, clenched an interim deal over the country’s nuclear energy program in Geneva last month. The six-month accord will lay the groundwork for a comprehensive resolution of the West’s decade-old nuclear dispute with Tehran.

But US allies in the Middle East, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchies fear the Geneva deal could strengthen Iran’s position as the dominant nation in the region.

Defense Secretary Hagel flew to Bahrain on Thursday evening as part of an effort by President Barack Obama to assuage those concerns.

“We are not going to change any of our military posture in this area or any part of the world during that six-month period,” Hagel said aboard the warship.

“We will keep the same kind of strong assets, the same exercises, the same partnerships, the same focus on our strategic interests that we had before we entered into this six-month period,” the Pentagon chief said.

Hagel will hold a series of meetings with Persian Gulf Arab leaders in coming days, and is scheduled to deliver a major speech at the Manama Dialogue, an annual gathering of Persian Gulf defense officials, on Saturday.