The United States sealed a deal on Thursday to provide Israel with 30 billion dollars in defence grants over the next decade, a 25 per cent boost that Washington describes as strengthening a bulwark against Iran.

 At a signing ceremony in Jerusalem, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the United States would help Israel maintain a military advantage over foes ranging from Iran and Syria to their proxies in Lebanon and Palestinian territories.

“There is no question that, from an American point of view, the Middle East is a more dangerous region now even than it was 10 or 20 years ago and that Israel is facing a growing threat. It’s immediate and it’s also long-term,’’ Burns told reporters.

“The United States faces many of the same threats from the same organisations and countries as Israel does, and so we felt this was the right level of assistance.’’

The Bush administration said last month that it would also offer weapons packages worth 20 billion dollars to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Egypt stands to get 13 billion dollars in defence assistance over the next decade, similar to present levels. The assistance is designed to reassure Sunni Muslim Gulf nations of UScommitment to the West Asia despite its problems in Iraq.