The ideaof establishing an international military alliance to protect maritime securityemerged in the Arabian Gulf on July 9, when the then chairman of the US JointChiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, announced Washington's work to formthis alliance.
The military alliance aims to protect merchant ships and oil tankers crossing the Straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb, in the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Gulf.
Under theUS plan, the United States will command large-scale maritime surveillance andreconnaissance, with warships for command and control missions.
In theother side, other alliance countries provide ships to patrol near US commandships.
The third part of the mission includes members of the coalition to accompany their country's merchant ships and oil tankers carrying their flags across the region.
USofficials at various levels have reached out to officials from 62 countries todiscuss the possibility of joining the military alliance.
However,the US coalition has so far received no official welcome, except from Britain,Australia, Bahrain, and finally Saudi Arabia.
As forEurope, unlike the British position, Germany announced that it is not currentlyconsidering participating in the military coalition that the United Statesseeks to form.
Francealso preferred to focus on a European alliance to carry out a similar mission,away from Washington's leadership.
China is still studying the US plan, with a more inclined approach to accompanying its naval fleet to its merchant ships in the Gulf, a position that corresponds to what Japan has decided to date.
• Saudi Arabia officially joins the International Alliance for the Safety
and Protection of Maritime Navigation
Saudi Arabia decided to join the International Alliance for the Safety and Protection of Maritime Navigation to ensure the safety of sea lanes, the official SPA news agency reported Wednesday.
This international alliance aims to protect merchant ships by providing safe navigation to ensure free maritime navigation and international trade and to protect the interests of the countries participating in the alliance, thereby enhancing the security and safety of merchant ships passing through the corridors.
The Gulf Alliance's operations area covers the Straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb, the Sea of Oman, and the Arabian Gulf.
Saudi Arabia's accession to this international alliance comes in support of regional and international efforts to deter and counter threats to maritime navigation and global trade and ensure global energy security, and the continued flow of energy supplies to the global economy and contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security.
