Iran protests U.S. troop buildup

Iraq offers to mediate between Washington, Tehran if asked

LONDON -- Iranian officials lashed out at the United States on Saturday after President Donald Trump's administration said it would allow the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan and deploy about 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East to counter Iran.

"If they commit the slightest stupidity, we will send these ships to the bottom of the sea along with their crew and planes using two missiles or two new secret weapons," Gen. Morteza Qorbani, an adviser to Iran's military command, told the semiofficial news agency Mizan on Saturday.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency that the move to send troops to the Middle East was "extremely dangerous and it threatens international peace and security."

"This should be addressed," Zarif added. It was unclear where Zarif was interviewed; he spent Friday in Pakistan, then headed to Iraq on Saturday for a two-day visit.

The pending arms deal had drawn sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers angry over civilian deaths from the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen. Analysts said that officials in Tehran were likely to see it as a further deterioration in relations between the two countries, already worsening since Trump's decision last year to leave the Iran nuclear deal. The deal is still supported by European nations, however.

In response to Trump's decision, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran this month announced that while Iran would not exit the deal, it would begin a series of small steps to resume nuclear production restricted under the agreement.

The White House then announced additional sanctions on Iran's steel, aluminum, iron and copper sectors, accounting for 10 percent of the country's exports.

The U.S. troop increase is far less than the 20,000 forces that United States commanders in the region had sought. It includes 600 troops whose deployments will be extended, alongside 900 being newly sent to the Middle East.

White House plans have been revised after pressure from hard-liners led by John Bolton, the president's national security adviser. Under the revised plans, if Iran were to accelerate work on nuclear weapons, defense officials envision sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East.

Still, Trump -- who has been keen to disengage from conflict zones in the Middle East -- was seen as unlikely to boost troops by more than 100,000, and Iran tends to exaggerate its successes when it comes to state-of-the-art weaponry, according to experts.

Many analysts say the tensions echo the buildup to the war in Iraq in 2003. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said last week that Iraq is remaining neutral in the conflict, though it will send delegations to the U.S. and Iran to help end tensions if needed.

Iraq's parliament speaker also said Saturday that Baghdad is ready to mediate between the U.S. and Iran if it is asked to do so.

Speaker Mohamad Halbousi's comments, carried by state TV, came shortly after Zarif arrived in Baghdad. Iraqi TV aired footage of Zarif upon arrival while being received by the Foreign Ministry's undersecretary Nizar Khairallah.

"We are ready to mediate to solve the crisis between Washington and Tehran if we are asked for that," Halbousi said, though he added that there has been "no official request for such mediation."

Later in the day, Abdul-Mahdi hosted Zarif for iftar, the meal that breaks daylong fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A statement released by Abdul-Mahdi's office said the two officials discussed "ways of making the two countries and the region avoid the harms of sanctions and the dangers of war." They also spoke about the importance of security and stability in the Middle East and how to maintain the 2015 nuclear deal.

During his visit to Baghdad, Zarif will also meet his Iraqi counterpart Mohamed al-Hakim and Iraqi President Barham Salih, according to Iran's state news agency.

Iraq's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Sahhaf said Zarif will discuss the situation in the region and ways of finding common ground.

Information for this article was contributed by Palko Karasz of The New York Times; and by Bassem Mroue and Amir Vahdat of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/26/2019

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