March 26 (Reuters) – The Pentagon is weighing whether to redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East, as the war in Iran strains supplies of some of the U.S. military’s most critical munitions, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The weapons that could be redirected include air defense interceptor missiles purchased through a NATO initiative launched last year, under which partner countries buy U.S. arms for Kyiv, the report said.
The consideration comes as U.S. operations in the region intensify. Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command chief leading U.S. forces in the Middle East, said on Wednesday the U.S. had hit over 10,000 targets inside Iran and was on track to limit Iran’s ability to project power outside its borders.
A Pentagon spokesperson told the newspaper the Defense Department would “ensure that U.S. forces and those of our allies and partners have what they need to fight and win.”
In response to a query about the report, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said weapons continue to be delivered to Kyiv.
“Everything that NATO allies and partners have paid for through PURL has been delivered or continues to flow to Ukraine,” she said, referring to the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, a mechanism that allows European countries to pay for U.S. weapons on behalf of Ukraine.
The Pentagon and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Andrew Gray, Editing by Louise Heavens, Ros Russell, Rod Nickel)
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