(Radio Iowa) – Republican Senator Joni Ernst is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers calling for a new Middle East agreement, to counter Iran. Ernst says Wednesday’s drone attack on a U-S consulate in Iraq shows Iran and its proxies are a growing threat in the region.  “Iran is presenting a clear and present danger to the United States and Iraq,” Ernst says. Ernst envisions a security cooperation agreement among the U-S, Iraq, Israel, the United Arab Emirates as well as other Arab nations. She says it would set the stage for integrating air and missile defense systems in those countries.

“The point is we’re trying to pull everybody together to get systems that will actually work together,” Ernst says. Ernst has introduced a bill that outlines these ideas. She says it’s not about creating something like NATO, where partner nations pledge to provide military support to a member that’s attacked or invaded. Instead, Ernst says the goal is to ensure defense systems in Middle East countries that are U-S allies can effectively communicate and respond to missile attacks in the region.

“It doesn’t require that the United States provide defense. It’s just security cooperation,” Ernst says. “…We feel if we are able to get them speaking together about security cooperation, then other things will follow…We end up seeing them engage culturally, we’ll see them engage in trade, so there’s a lot more that will follow after these countries know that they’re working together for collective national security.” Democratic senators from New Jersey and Nevada and a Republican senator from Oklahoma joined Ernst today (Thursday) in co-sponsoring the bill.