The US is taking out Patriot anti-missile systems out of Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Four Patriot missile batteries will be removed as well as dozens of military personnel, which may mean the US no longer thinks Iran poses a threat to the oil producing capacity of its Saudi ally.
Two US jet fighter squadrons also left the region, marking an end to the US building military capacities in that country to counter-act a possible Iranian attack.
The US decision arrives at the heel of some Israeli defense experts claiming the Islamic Republic is reducing its forces in Syria as it is currently facing the loss of life caused by the coroanvirus outbreak and its effects on that country’s economy.
Iran denied any involvement in the September 2019 Houthi attack on the Abqaiq oil processing facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia.
The attack was carried out from Yemen by drones which, according to Saudi officials, were produced in Iran.