[For the first time since the war in Iran, the U.S. convened a secret meeting of senior military officials from eight countries including Israel] On September 16, the U.S. Axios news website quoted two Israeli officials as reporting on the 15th that the U.S. military secretly convened senior military officials from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt for a meeting in Germany last week to discuss the war in Iran and tensions in the Middle East. The report said that although such meetings have been held before, last week's meeting was the first since the war in Iran broke out in late February. The meeting was organized by Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and was held at a secluded resort in Germany. Cooper told delegates at the meeting that the United States would not withdraw its troops from the Middle East despite Iran's continued attacks on U.S. military bases in the Middle East. Cooper also briefly introduced the U.S. plan to expand navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.