Germany and the Netherlands have suspended their military training programmes in Iraq because of a perceived security threat in the wake of rising US-Iranian tensions in the region.

The announcements came after the US embassy in Baghdad ordered all but emergency staff to leave Iraq. No details of the supposed security threat were provided.

A German defence ministry spokesman, Jens Flosdorff, said that by pausing its small-scale training missions north of Baghdad and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Germany was “orienting itself toward our partner countries, which have taken this step”.

However, Flosdorff said the move was not a response to a “concrete threat” but rather to a general security situation being viewed as more tense.

The Dutch public broadcaster, NOS, reported that the country’s 50-strong mission, mostly involved in training Kurdish fighters, had been halted “until further orders”, but quoted a defence ministry spokesman as saying he could not elaborate on the nature of the threat.

German and Dutch officials did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday morning. Neither country has followed the US example and withdrawn diplomats from their embassies in Iraq.

In their public pronouncements, European capitals have generally voiced anxiety at the rising US-Iranian tensions, but European diplomats overwhelmingly blame the Donald Trump administration for seeking to provoke a confrontation. US allies have conspicuously avoided echoing US claims of an imminent threat from Iran.

The UK and US military have given strikingly different views of the security situation for coalition forces in Iraq and Syria. The UK defence ministry stood by British Maj Gen Christopher Ghika, who was rebuked by US central command on Tuesday for insisting there was no increased threat from Iranian-aligned militias in the region.

“Maj Gen Ghika speaks as a military officer in the US-led coalition focused on the fight against Daesh [Isis] in Iraq and Syria. His comments are based on the day to day military operations and his sole focus is the enduring defeat of Daesh,” the ministry said in a statement, which did not directly address the question of whether the security threat had increased.

“He made clear in his Pentagon briefing that “there are a range of threats to American and coalition forces in this part of the world. There always have been, that is why we have a very robust range of force protection measures. The UK has long been clear about our concerns over Iran’s destabilising behaviour in the region.”

The New York Times on Wednesday quoted an unnamed American official as saying an increased Iranian threat was “small stuff” that did not merit the military build-up advocated by the national security adviser, John Bolton. The official said the “ultimate goal of the year-long economic sanctions campaign by the Trump administration was to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States”, according to the report.

Democrats in Congress have raised similar concerns, pointing to the parallels between the current US actions and the buildup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, in which Bolton played a supporting role.

“Iran is and has been for decades a malevolent actor and a state sponsor of terror,” Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, told the Washington Post. “But I’m also gravely concerned about actions taken by the administration that appear calculated to put us on a collision course.”

In recent days there have been sabotage attacks against oil tankers, two of them Saudi-owned, in the Persian Gulf, and Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for drone strikes against Saudi oil installations. The Houthis receive backing from Iran but most experts say they are not directly controlled from Tehran.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted that “no one is seeking war”, but in the same speech he also ruled out negotiations with the US, saying such talks would be “poison” – an apparent response to Trump’s suggestion that the Iranian leadership call him directly.

Khamenei also repeated Iran’s threat to enrich uranium beyond the 3.67% limit agreed in a multilateral nuclear deal in 2015, which Trump abrogated last year, if US does not ease its oil embargo and other sanctions. He made clear Iran could even go beyond its previous boundary of 20% enrichment, beyond which it becomes increasingly easy to attain weapons grade, above 90%.

“Achieving 20% enrichment is the most difficult part,” Khamenei said, according to an Iranian press report. “The next steps are easier than this step.” </s> and the said Wednesday they were halting their training of soldiers in as tensions rise between neighbouring and the

"The has suspended the training," said, adding that there was "generally heightened alert, awareness" for soldiers currently operating in the region.

Flosdorff said training may resume in the next few days and that there was "no concrete threat" at the moment.

has about 160 soldiers deployed in Iraq, including 60 in Taji, just to the north of Baghdad, and 100 in Erbil, in Kurdish-controlled northern territory.

Separately, the Netherlands' defence ministry said it was also suspending its training mission in due to "threats", the Dutch ANP agency said.

More than 50 Dutch soldiers are training Kurdish troops in Erbil in the context of the international coalition against the Islamic State group, ANP said.

The defence ministry website says the also supplies two military advisers and four civilian experts to the NATO "capacity-building mission" in

Lithuania, which has eight soldiers in Iraq, said it did not plan to halt its mission. </s> CAPITOL HILL — U.S. President Donald Trump says there is “no infighting whatsoever” about his Middle East policies and that as tensions with Iran continue, he is “sure that Iran will want to talk soon.”

Trump responded to reports in the Washington Post and New York Times about clashing opinions between those in his administration who see Iran taking clear steps in preparation to attack U.S. forces, and other officials, including some from European allies, who argue the Iranian moves are defensive precautions in response to U.S. actions toward Iran.

“Different opinions are expressed and I make a decisive and final decision,” Trump tweeted. “All sides, views, and policies are covered.”

Trump decided last year to withdraw from an international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, and applied fresh actions to cut off Iran’s oil and banking sectors in an attempt to alter the Iranian government’s behavior.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday that “the escalation by the United States is unacceptable and uncomfortable,” and that despite the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran is exercising “maximum restraint.”

The United States has ordered its non-essential employees to leave the country’s embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and its consulate in Irbil as the Trump administration warned of threats against American forces in the Middle East from Iran or Iranian-backed proxies.

“There are only two reasons for ordering their departure: we have credible intelligence that our people are at risk or in preparation for military action in Iran,” the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, said. “The Trump administration has not provided any information to this committee on the intelligence behind their decisions or what they plan to do in Iraq or Iran.”

Menendez demanded the officials bring panel members up to date on “any plans to go to war with Iran.”

Committee chairman, Idaho Republican James Risch, said he, personally, has been briefed on the unfolding situation in the Middle East and said a briefing of the full U.S. Senate was “in the works.”

The United States is not alone in curtailing activities in Iraq. Germany and the Netherlands say they are suspending military training operations in the country, although Berlin said it had no signals of its own that a threat against Western interests in Iraq was imminent. The Dutch government cited an unspecified security threat in curtailing its training operations.

Trump has rejected a report that he is considering sending 120,000 troops to counter Iran but didn’t rule out deploying “a lot more” soldiers in the future.

“I think it’s fake news,” Trump said of The New York Times report. “Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that.”

The Pentagon has dispatched an aircraft carrier and nuclear-capable bomber planes to the region in the past few days, with a Patriot missile battery and a landing platform dock ship on the way. The Patriot system offers protection from aircraft and missiles, while the LPD carries Marines and the aircraft, hovercraft or boats needed to put them ashore to fight in distant places.

But a major U.S. ally in the region, the United Arab Emirates, says it will show “restraint” in the face of Iranian aggression.

The United States suspects Iran was behind the sabotage of four foreign vessels Sunday off the UAE coast. Two Saudi oil tankers were among those damaged.

“We need to emphasize caution and good judgment,” UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Anwar Gargash said Wednesday. “It is easy to throw accusations, but it is a difficult situation. There are serious issues and among them is Iranian behavior.”

He said the UAE will not publicly speculate who was behind the sabotage while the investigation is under way.

Meanwhile, a senior British officer in the U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria said Tuesday he has not seen an increased threat to his troops by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria.

Major General Chris Ghika’s statement to reporters contradicts the Trump administration, which has asserted for more than a week that it has detected potential Iranian threats against U.S. forces in the Middle East.

“This seems like an escalation with no endgame,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said, describing the pressure campaign on Tehran as “ham-handed.” </s> National Security Advisor John Bolton (R) announced a new US military deployment to the Gulf, calling it "a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime" (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's order of a US military buildup in the Gulf to counter alleged threats by Iran has many worried about a looming war and others skeptical of Washington's motivations.

- What assets has the US deployed? -

On May 5, Trump's hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton announced the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and a B-52 bomber force to the Gulf.

Days later, the Pentagon added a Patriot missile defense battery and an amphibious assault ship to the deployment

- What is the alleged Iran threat? -

Iran has not made any direct public threats to spark the US deployment. Washington says it acted on intelligence reports of Iranian actions.

Bolton said the aircraft carrier and bomber deployments were "in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings."

On Wednesday, the US was more specific, saying there was an "imminent" threat to US personnel in Iraq from Iraqi militias allegedly controlled by Tehran. The US State Department ordered the partial evacuation of the US embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Arbil in response.

Analysts in Washington suspect that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could have been plotting an attack in retaliation for the US declaring it a terrorist organization in April.

Iran subsequently designated all US troops as "terrorists," effectively making them a potential target.

Have there been any incidents?

One. On Monday, Saudi and United Arab Emirates officials said three oil tankers and a barge anchored at Fujairah near the strategically important entrance to the Gulf were damaged in an alleged "sabotage" operation.

But what caused the relatively minor damage to the vessels and who was behind it remains unknown.

- Is the US preparing for war? -

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it is not. "We fundamentally do not seek a war with Iran," he said Tuesday in Sochi, Russia.

President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that expects the pressure on Iran will bring it to the negotiating table.

"I'm sure that Iran will want to talk soon," he wrote.

At the same time, The New York Times reported last week that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented the White House with a plan for responding to an Iranian attack that involved sending up to 120,000 American troops to the region.

That is not enough to invade Iran but is enough for an attack from outside its borders.

- What do US allies say? -

Washington's European allies have kept their distance, calling for calm and expressing concern over military escalation.

They fear that more pressure on Tehran will compel it to abrogate the international agreement on its nuclear program, the JCPOA, from which Trump withdrew the United States one year ago.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Berlin "still regards this nuclear agreement as the basis for Iran not having any nuclear weapons in the future, and we regard this as existential for our security."

British, Netherlands and German forces in the international coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria downplayed the immediate threat from Iran.

But Germany and the Netherlands said Wednesday that they were suspending training of soldiers in Iraq due to a "generally heightened" state of alert.

And Spain recalled a frigate accompanying the US carrier task force, explaining that the frigate's mission was not to take part in actual hostilities with Iran. </s> Iran threat: Fears of an attack have led to an increased security alert

British military and diplomatic service personnel in the Middle East have been placed on an increased state of alert as fears grow of an attack by Iran on UK targets in the strife-torn region. A Foreign Office spokeswoman declined to immediately comment on the reports. It is believed tensions between Iran and the US were a “hot topic” in Tuesday’s National Security Council meeting.

The heightened alert from British officials comes after the US ordered all non-essential government staff to leave Iraq.

Germany and the Netherlands have also suspended their military assistance programmes in the volatile country.

Tensions have reached boiling point in the Persian Gulf region over unspecified threats the US says are linked to Iran.

US defence chiefs have been positioning warships, bombers and thousands of troops in the Persian Gulf.

Washington officials said they had detected signs of Iranian preparations for potential attacks on US forces and interests in the Middle East have not elaborated on that threat.

Iran’s supreme leader issued a veiled warning on Tuesday whenhe said it would not be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels but officials such sabre-rattling is not unusual from the regime's hardline leadership.

The movement of diplomatic personnel is often done in times of conflict but what is driving the decisions from the White House remains unclear. </s> Pakistan on Thursday urged the United States and Iran to exhibit "restraint" and resolve the issues that have ratcheted up tensions between them through negotiations, Radio Pakistan reported.

Addressing a weekly news conference in Islamabad today, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal termed the recent developments in the Persian Gulf as "disturbing".

He said Washington's decision to deploy an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf has "added to the tension[s] and the existing precarious security situation in the Middle East".

"Any miscalculated move can transmute into a large scale conflict," the FO spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Editorial: Can Pakistan help ward off a potentially catastrophic regional conflict amid US-Iran rift?

The remarks come a day after the US ordered all nonessential government staff to leave Iraq, and Germany and the Netherlands both suspended their military assistance programs in the country in the latest sign of tensions sweeping the Persian Gulf region over still-unspecified threats that the Trump administration says are linked to Iran.

Recent days have seen allegations of sabotage targeting oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a drone attack by Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels, and the dispatch of US warships and bombers to the region.

At the root of this appears to be President Donald Trump's decision a year ago to pull the US from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, embarking on a maximalist sanctions campaign against Tehran. In response, Iran's supreme leader issued a veiled threat on Tuesday, saying it wouldn't be difficult for the Islamic Republic to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels.

Dr Faisal during the news briefing also announced that the UAE government has decided to release 572 Pakistani prisoners who were incarcerated in its jails.

He said that the Pakistani mission in the Emirates is in touch with local authorities in order to expedite the inmates' release and deportation.

Answering a question, the spokesperson said the nation would also hear a "good news" regarding the release of Pakistani prisoners from jails in Saudi Arabia very soon.

He revealed that the US had deported 50 Pakistanis through a chartered flight on Wednesday. </s> OTTAWA—Canada’s defence minister is calling for calmer heads to prevail as a war of words between the U.S. and Iran threatens to turn into a war of bullets and bombs. Such a conflict could easily spill over into Iraq and the surrounding region, where around 850 Canadian soldiers are deployed as part of the war against Daesh, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“What we would like to see is de-escalation of this and bring it back from a military conversation and back into the diplomatic sphere,” Harjit Sajjan said in an interview with The Canadian Press from Brussels Thursday, where he was concluding two days of meetings with counterparts from across NATO. The dispute revolves around U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from an agreement his predecessor Barack Obama signed with Iran that limits Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. Iran has since been accused of attacking several oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and is on the verge of stockpiling more uranium than the agreement allowed. The U.S. has imposed new sanctions and launched a cyberattack on an Iranian militia.

The two sides appeared close to blows last week after Iran shot down a U.S. military drone. Trump said he nearly ordered retaliatory strikes against the country but reversed course after advisers told him those would kill 150 Iranians.

Fears nonetheless persist over the potential for a conflict, which would almost certainly have ramifications across the broader Middle East — including in neighbouring Iraq, where Iran has a sizable influence. Part of that influence comes from Iran’s support for various Shia Muslim militia groups, which helped defeat the Sunni Daesh but owe their allegiance more to Tehran than Baghdad and could be a threat to western forces if war broke out. While Sajjan expressed confidence about the safety of Canadian military personnel in the region, “nonetheless, from the military side, we’ll be closely monitoring things to make sure our people remain safe.” The federal government this week announced Canada will lead a NATO training mission in Iraq until November 2020. That mission involves 250 Canadian Forces members who are working with Iraqi security forces.

Canada has another 600 troops in Iraq and across the region, including special-forces soldiers, medical personnel and helicopter crews in the country, air-transport crews in Kuwait and more trainers in Lebanon and Jordan. Those troops are scheduled to stay in the area until March 2021.

While most of Canada’s effort in Iraq involves working with Iraqi government forces, officials for Iraq’s semi-independent Kurdish region have said they would also welcome Canadian military assistance. Canadian special forces trained and advised the Kurdish peshmerga forces for three years in defending their region against Daesh before working together to free large swathes of territory from Daesh’s grasp. But Canada suspended and then ended its work with the peshmerga after an outbreak of violence between them and Iraqi government forces in October 2017 over control of oil-rich territory in the north of the country. While Canada continues to have a good relationship with the Iraqi Kurds, Sajjan said the Canadian military has shifted its focus to working with Iraqi government forces. “We worked with the (Kurds) very closely when it came to the defence of that region because that’s where it was needed,” he said. “Now the support is actually needed within the Mosul region and the capacity-building that we’re doing with (the Iraqi military). So the work that we’re doing is situation-dependent.” </s> The State Department ordered Wednesday the departure of non-emergency US government employees from Iraq amid increasing tensions with Iran and warned US citizens not to travel to the country, citing a “high risk for violence and kidnapping.”

The department said in a statement that employees working in the US embassy in Baghdad and the US consulate in Erbil were instructed to leave Iraq, and that “normal visa services will be temporarily suspended at both posts.”

It added that American Citizens Services employees who were working in the embassy in Baghdad “will continue to provide consular services to U.S. citizens in Basrah.”

The department said the sudden changes were because the US government’s “ability to provide routine and emergency services to US citizens in Iraq is extremely limited” and that as a result, the threat of “terrorism, kidnapping, and armed conflict” aimed at Americans in the country was too great a risk.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unannounced visit to Iraq last week amid escalating tensions with Iran.

While there, Pompeo said he spoke to Iraqi officials “about the importance of Iraq ensuring that it’s able to adequately protect Americans in their country.”

US officials have told CNN the US had “specific and credible” intelligence that suggested Iranian forces and proxies were planning to target US forces in locations including Iraq. That intelligence led the Pentagon to recommend a carrier strike group be moved to the region.

The State Department also said Wednesday that Americans “should not travel through Iraq to Syria to engage in armed conflict” as they may face similar threats in Syria and face “legal risks” from both the US and Syria.

The orders from the State Department come a day after US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement that the Pentagon has increased the threat risk for US troops in Iraq and Syria.

“US Central Command, in coordination with Operation Inherent Resolve, has increased the force posture level for all service members assigned to OIR in Iraq and Syria. As a result, OIR is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to US forces in Iraq,” US Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for Central Command, said in a statement Tuesday.

Urban’s statement also pushed back against comments made earlier Tuesday by the deputy commander of the US-led military coalition against ISIS, UK Major Gen. Chris Ghika, who said “there has been no increased threat from Iranian backed forces in Iraq and Syria.” </s> ERBIL: Almost 93 percent of Iraq’s Kurds voted to create an independent state, the High Elections and Referendum Commission said on Wednesday, in a referendum that has angered the Baghdad government and regional powers Turkey and Iran.

Voters were asked to say "yes" or "no" to the question: "Do you want the Kurdistan Region and Kurdistani areas outside the (Kurdistan) Region to become an independent country?"More than 72 percent of eligible voters, or 3.3 million people, cast a ballot, with 92.73 percent of valid votes in favour of "yes" and 7.27 percent in favour of "no.

Meanwhile, Baghdad piled pressure on Iraq’s Kurds on Wednesday, demanding they cancel their overwhelming vote for independence while parliament urged the Iraqi central government to send troops to take control of vital oil fields held by Kurdish forces.

Stepping up efforts to isolate autonomous Kurdish-held northern Iraq, which backed secession in a referendum on Monday that angered neighbouring countries, Baghdad demanded that foreign governments close their diplomatic missions in the Kurdish capital, Erbil.

Final results released on Wednesday showed nearly 93 percent in favour of independence, and 7.3 percent against. More than 3.3 million people, or 72 percent of eligible voters, took part in Monday’s ballot, according to the electoral commission.

The referendum has fuelled fears of a new regional conflict. A delegation from Iraq’s armed forces headed to neighbouring Iran to coordinate military efforts, apparently as part of retaliatory measures taken by the government in Baghdad following the vote.

Iran and Turkey also oppose any move towards Kurdish secession and their armies have started joint exercises near their borders with Iraqi Kurdistan in recent days. Iraq and Turkey have also held joint military drills.

Foreign airlines began suspending flights to Kurdish airports after the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said international flights to Erbil and Sulaimaniya would be suspended at 1500 GMT on Tuesday.

Kurdish authorities rejected Baghdad’s demands that they should annul the referendum as a condition for dialogue and hand over control of their international airports. Turkey, which has threatened to impose sanctions on the Kurds, said its border with northern Iraq remained open, although it may not remain so. The number of trucks passing through had however decreased.

Home to the region’s largest Kurdish population, Turkey has been battling a three-decade insurgency in its largely Kurdish southeast and fears the referendum will inflame separatist tension at home.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have stressed the need for Iraq’s borders to remain unchanged, will meet in Ankara on Thursday.
Germany and the Netherlands suspend military training mission in Iraq citing escalating tensions in the region with Iran.