Saudi Arabia Insists Operation North Thunder Not A Message For Iran

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By Saeed Al-Khotani

The ongoing North Thunder military exercise is not designed to send any message to Iran but to achieve military goals and objectives, said Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Assiri, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.

“If Iran (has) understood something else, it is that country’s problem,” he said. “As far as we are concerned, we are working to safeguard the security of the Kingdom and other Gulf states.”

Addressing journalists during a briefing at King Khaled Military City at Hafr Al-Batin, he said: “The goals and objectives of the exercise is to test the mobility of Saudi infrastructure for a huge multinational military build-up and operations … It is to provide an opportunity to participating countries to gain more military skills in dealing with large-scale wars and acts of terror … And to raise the level of coordination among the alliance partners.”

He said that the exercise, which will conclude on Thursday, is taking place in an area that is close to Saudi, Kuwaiti and Iraqi borders. “Land, air and sea forces are involved in the exercise.”

He said that when the US, which is a great power, decided to attack terrorists in Afghanistan, it did so with a coalition of 28 countries. “The US could have gone it alone, but this is the era of coalitions. Therefore, the Kingdom is working through a coalition to defend its security and that of the region.”

Arab News

Arab News is Saudi Arabia's first English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1975 by Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz. Today, it is one of 29 publications produced by Saudi Research & Publishing Company (SRPC), a subsidiary of Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG).

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