The United States is slowly taking steps to relocate its military command center in the Middle East, Al Udeid Air Base, to Jordan. Congress has pumped $143 million into upgrading the Jordanian base Muwaffaq Salti, which played a key role in international operations against ISIS.
The base is now operating at five times its original capacity.
Muwaffaq Salti Air Base was established in 1981 in the desert oasis of Azraq, near Jordan’s borders with Syria and Iraq. It is named after the pilot Muwaffaq Salti who was killed by Israeli aircraft in 1966.
The dispute that has seen Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies isolate Qatar stems from Qatar's sponsorship of extremist groups which are destabilizing the Middle East.