US Authorizes Deployment of Troops, Resources to Saudi Arabia

US Authorizes Deployment of Troops, Resources to Saudi Arabia
President Donald Trump (L) and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud gesture during a signing ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. Mandelngan/AFP/Getty Images
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WASHINGTON—With Iranian military threats in mind, the United States is sending American forces, including fighter aircraft, air defense missiles and likely more than 500 troops to a Saudi airbase that became a hub of American airpower in the Middle East in the 1990s but was abandoned by Washington after it toppled Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry announced the basing agreement Friday without mentioning details.