Persian Gulf states speed up U.S. missile shield

As tensions swell in the Persian Gulf, the United States is pressing its fractious Arab allies to accelerate efforts to establish an integrated missile defense network to counter the threat of Iran's growing ballistic arsenal.

That would add considerable weight to U.S. anti-missile defenses in the region, recently reinforced, in any conflict with the Islamic Republic.

It would also mean, and has already, contracts worth billions of dollars for U.S. defense companies that are increasingly dependent on export orders amid stinging cutbacks in U.S. defense spending.

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