Hagel to travel to Middle East next week

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has plans totravel to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel next week to "advance America's regionalstrategy," according to Defense Department Press Secretary John Kirby. Kirby told reporters Friday that Hagel's first stop will be in Saudi Arabia where hewill "participate in a US-Gulf Cooperation Council defense ministerial, an initiativethat he called for at the Manama dialogue in December of last year." The meeting inJeddah will be the first US-GCC defense ministers' forum since 2008.Kirby said that the meeting "provides an important and timely opportunity for theUnited States to step up cooperation with Gulf nations as we confront commonregional security challenges related to Iran, Syria, Egypt and Iraq."The ministerial is designed to strengthen multilateral security cooperation in theregion, focusing on enhanced GCC coordination on air and missile defense,maritime security and cyberdefense," Kirby affirmed.He added, "It is also an opportunity for the secretary to underscore US securitycommitments in the Middle East and to reinforce the United States' unstintingpolicy of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and further destabilizingthe region." Hagel will then travel to Jordan to meet with their Chief of Defense todiscuss how the two countries will cooperate on the conflict in Syria."This visit will highlight US commitment to the defense of Jordan where more than1,000 US personnel are on the ground working closely with Jordanian defenseauthorities," Kirby stressed. The last stop for Hagel will be in Israel to meet with President Shimon Peres, PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon."Secretary and Minister Ya'alon will discuss critical regional and bilateral securityissues, including the United States and Israel's cooperation on rocket and missiledefense," asserted Kirby. Kirby reiterated, "The secretary, as you know, is deeply committed to the US-Israelidefense relationship, which is as strong as it's ever been.