Global worries flare

Concerns for ‘unintended’ conflict as US indicates Iran threat

INTERNATIONAL worries that the Trump administration is sliding towards war with Iran flared into the open yesterday amid scepticism about its claims that the Islamic Republic poses a growing threat to the US and its allies in the Persian Gulf and beyond.

The US military rebutted doubts expressed by a British general about such a threat.

US President Donald Trump denied a report that the administration had updated plans to send more than 100,000 troops to counter Iran if necessary.

But Trump then stirred the controversy further by saying: “Would I do that? Absolutely.”

The general’s remarks exposed international scepticism over the American military build-up in the Middle East, a legacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq that was predicated on false intelligence.

US officials have not publicly provided any evidence to back up claims of an increased Iranian threat amid other signs of allied unease.

As tensions in the region started to surge, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said his nation was worried about the risk of accidental conflict “with an escalation that is unintended really on either side”.

Then yesterday, Spain temporarily pulled one of its frigates from the US-led combat fleet heading toward the Strait of Hormuz. That was followed by the unusual public challenge to the Trump administration by the general.

“No, there’s been no increased threat from Iranianbacked forces in Iraq and Syria,” said Major General Chris Ghika, a senior officer in the US-backed coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

Ghika, speaking in a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon that the coalition monitored the presence of Iranian-backed forces “along with a whole range of others because that’s the environment we’re in.”