With Eye on Iran and ISIS, Arab Leaders Agree to Set Up Joint Military Force

Sixty-five years after a group of Arab nations signed a mutual defense treaty whose primary target was the newly-reestablished state of Israel, Arab leaders agreed Sunday to activate it by setting up a joint military force.
The move comes amid spreading Islamic extremism and Iranian muscle-flexing in the region.

 

The in-principle decision was made at an Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where the leaders agreed the envisaged force should respond quickly to threats, including terror threats, facing any Arab state.

 

A final communique called for “coordination, efforts and steps to establish an unified Arab force,” and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi was tasked to confer with member states’ military chiefs within a month to work out details. In acknowledgement that not all members are equally eager, it was decided that individual countries’ participation will be voluntary.

 

Read More: With Eye on Iran and ISIS, Arab Leaders Agree to Set Up Joint Military Force | CNS News