ABU DHABI (AFP) – Washington's level military officer and its Chief Middle East diplomat touring Gulf this week to reassure allies in oil-rich Nations, as bloody uprisings rock region.
Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week as part of a trip, which was planned well before uprisings.
Members of the entourage is said he can also stop in Bahrain--home of the US fifth fleet--which has been gripped by a popular uprising challenging the rule of Sunni dynasty in power over 200 years.
The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East Jeffrey Feltman has also embarked on a tour of oil-rich Arab Gulf States on Tuesday and is expected to visit Bahrain and.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Feltman said would also pay a visit to Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and UEA to press for political and economic reform, says there was a "critical need to address" such calls for change.
Mullen has said his trip aimed to "reassure, discuss and understand what is going on" and have called for a peaceful solution to the confrontation between opposition groups and Governments in the Arab world.
"This a time of enormous change this needs to be solved peacefully without violence and leaders have to step forward in terms of," he said.
Mullen praised the decision by the Crown Prince of Bahrain Salman Ben Hamad Al Khalifah to start conversations with the demonstrators to say "it had facilitated a number of leaders (he spoke to during his tour) in easing tensions."
US President Barack Obama Chief Military Adviser has also met with counterparts in the region to provide support from Washington, which also have military bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Seven people have been killed in Bahrain since rebellion was triggered on February 14 in the small Sunni-Shiite majority ruled the Kingdom with.
Turmoil has intensified fears that Shiite Iran's regime will take advantage of crisis
But Mullen said he did not see Tehran's hand behind Manamas protests.
"I still believe, Iran, is a country which continues to incite instability in the region, take advantage of every opportunity ... (but) from my perspective, there has been a principal focus of what happened in Egypt, or what happened in Bahrain or any of these other countries, ' he says.
Around annual U.S. troops are stationed in Bahrain to protect the Gulf maritime oil routes supplying us operations in Afghanistan.
Manama and Washington are bound by a 1991 defense Pact, which lays down the bilateral consultations in case of security threats against Bahrain, Middle East expert Kenneth Katzman said in a conference report.
"What could be at stake here is an ability to have forces in the Gulf to reassure our allies ... that they will be protected from Iran," said David Aaron, a senior researcher at the think tank RAND Corporation AFP.
Saudi Arabia, annoyed by "interference" from Washington during Egyptian rebellion against Hosni Mubarak, remains at the heart of American strategy in the region.
Outbreaks of unrest, Riyadh has offered the unwavering support for Bahrain, feared protests could destabilise its oil-rich Eastern provinces agitate Shiite Communities live there, a potential boon for Iran.
"Bahrain is a proxy battlefield in the broader geopolitical struggle between Saudi Arabia, the United States and Iran," says U.S. firm Stratfor, which specializes in intelligence.
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