US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter sought to reassure anxious Middle East allies on Tuesday over the Iran nuclear deal during a regional tour that includes stops in Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Carter met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce critic of the landmark Iran accord, before flying on to Jordan, a key partner in the US-led war on the Islamic State (ISIS) group.
Addressing military personnel from six nations in the anti-jehadist coalition at a Jordanian airbase, he said the United States and Israel had a "common commitment to countering Iranian malign influence in the region".
Netanyahu "made it quite clear that he disagreed with us with respect to the nuclear deal and Iran. But friends can disagree," Carter said.
"We will continue to work with Israel and other partners in this region to counter the danger from Iran, even as we do the same with respect to ISIl," he said, using another acronym for ISIS.
Carter met American forces stationed in Jordan, which shares borders with both Syria and Iraq, as well as colleagues of Jordanian air force pilot lieutenant Maaz al-Kassasbeh, who was burned alive by ISIS after his plane crashed in Syria.
His murder caused global revulsion and vows of international efforts to combat the Sunni Muslim extremist group."The enemy has to be defeated," Carter told a small group of US mechanics beside an American F-16 in a hangar at the base. A"It will be, because the barbarians are always defeated by civilisation, a few by the many,"he added.