Senior US diplomat says threat to American troops from Iran remains ‘significant’

A top US diplomat for the Middle East said that Iran-backed militia poses a “significant” threat to the American forces in Iraq as another rocket attack on foreign workers was reported on April 6. David Schenker, assistant secretary of Near Eastern Affairs, reportedly said in a teleconference that the threat continues to be significant but didn’t give any details regarding it.

Last week, Trump said his administration had received intelligence inputs that Iran is planning to strike US interests in Iraq. US troops and other Coalition forces stationed at military bases in Iraq are being continuously being targeted by armed militia allegedly backed by Iran.

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Iranian Finance Minister hits back

After Trump’s accusation, Iranian Finance Minister Javad Zarif shot back asking the US President not to be misled by “usual warmongers” and said that Iran has friends since no country can have “millions of proxies”. Zarif accused the United States of surreptitiously lying, cheating and assassinating and said that Iran acts only in “self-defence”.

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The heightened tension between the US and Iran has led to crippling economic sanctions on Tehran by Washington. Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the United States missed a historic opportunity to lift the economic sanctions and apologise for their “wrongdoing”. During a televised cabinet meeting on April 1, Rouhani said that the Americans did not learn a lesson even in these “harsh global conditions”.

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(Image Credit: AP)