US presence in Gulf 'not enough' for security, Qatari official says

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari on Monday appeared to indicate that the presence of US forces in the Gulf is no longer the protective shield it was once believed to be. Qatar hosts the largest US military base in the Arab world, which is also the regional headquarters for US Central Command. It has borne the brunt of repeated Iranian retaliatory attacks for the US- Israeli war on the Islamic Republic, which began on 28 February. "We need to realise in the Gulf that having international forces in the region, having a strategic alliance with the United States, is very important, but is not enough," he said during the Hili Forum in Abu Dhabi, UAE.