Arab states are running dangerously short of interceptors to shoot down missiles fired by Iran, officials say

Arab states in the Persian Gulf are running dangerously short of interceptors to shoot down Missiles fired by Irantwo regional officials told News themezone. Governments in the region have asked the United States to speed up new supplies and have been told that officials in Washington are creating a task force to do so, but it is not happening as quickly as needed.

The hundreds of drones launched by Iran represent an added complication. Officials speculated that Iran is intentionally hitting Arab states to pressure the United States to end the war.

On Wednesday, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dismissed concerns about supply and he told reporters at the Pentagon that there were sufficient “precision ammunition for the task at hand, both in attack and defense.”

Three regional officials also acknowledged that communication is a challenge since, despite being more than a year into his term, President Trump has not sent ambassadors to many of the countries, including Lebanon, Jordan and Qatar.

Due to a lack of nominations or slow confirmations, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are among the countries without a presidential representative in the country and rely on a charge d’affaires.

Amer Ghalib, former mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, was named ambassador to Kuwait, but wavered during confirmation hearings due to questions about his past anti-Semitic and inflammatory social media posts.

The National Security Council and the State Department are also short-staffed compared to previous administrations, leaving fewer points of contact. Mr. Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushnerdoes not deal with issues of country management.

In addition to the missiles launched by Iran, Kuwait has also received fire from nearby Iraq, where militias have fired missiles and drones at civilian areas.

Meanwhile, 10 people are believed to be Iranian agents. were arrested Wednesday in Qatar on suspicion of planning attacks. There is concern about sleeper cells and radicalization among Shia Muslim populations in certain countries such as Bahrain.

Additionally, many officials expressed widespread concern about Kurdish fighters expected to enter Iran, saying injecting sectarian conflict into an already combustible situation will be disruptive and also cause friction with Turkey, which fears Kurdish separatists.