Israel, U.S. to conduct missile drills

JERUSALEM, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Military maneuvers held by between the United States and Israel will include simulated missile attacks from Iran and elsewhere, an Arab newspaper says.

The pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, based in London, reported that the training exercises, the broadest ever conducted between the two countries, would also include mock missile attacks from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Sunday.

Al-Awsat said the drills were part of U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to revamp missile defense efforts after committing to scrapping planned land-based facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic meant to guard Europe against long-range missiles fired from the Middle East.

Under the new plans, the United States would instead rely on deploying ships with missile interceptors, easing Russian concerns that the land based facilities were actually meant to counter them.

The Al-Awsat report came as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was set to meet with his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates, Haaretz said.