GCC to establish joint forward-command centre in Kuwait

The Gulf Cooperation Council has approved a joint forward-command centre in Kuwait, aiming to strengthen military coordination among its six member states. The move comes as Gulf governments question the reliability of US security guarantees following the war on Iran and seek ways to improve their own defences.

GCC Secretary General Jasem al-Budaiwi said forces would be deployed to the centre but gave no details. The council’s 2000 mutual-defence agreement says an attack on one member is an attack on all, yet it has no unified command and has not responded to several attacks on members. Kuwait hosted about 14,000 US troops before the war, and Iranian strikes hit major US bases there; a US inspector general reported damage to hundreds of buildings and structures at bases across the region.