Iran’s allies on high alert in Trump’s final weeks

BAGHDAD — Iran has instructed allies across the Middle East to be on high alert and avoid provoking tensions with the U.S. that could give an outgoing Trump administration cause to launch attacks in the U.S. president’s final weeks in office, Iraqi officials have said.

The request — delivered by a senior Iranian general to allies in Baghdad this week — reflects the growing regional anxiety over President Donald Trump’s unpredictable behaviour and the uncertainty in the chaotic transition period until president-elect Joe Biden takes over in two months.

Iran’s allies have collectively welcomed Trump’s election defeat.

Under his presidency, tensions with Iran escalated, reaching fever pitch at the beginning of the year with the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top general, Qassim Soleimani, at the Baghdad airport.

Trump also unilaterally withdrew America in 2018 from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, meant to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, and re-imposed punishing sanctions on Iran, crippling its economy.

Iran has since abandoned all limits on its uranium enrichment program, even as the deal’s other international partners have tried unsuccessfully to salvage it.

The incoming Biden administration has stated plans to rejoin or renegotiate the 2015 nuclear accord.

But there is growing concern over what Trump, who is refusing to concede the election, might do in the last days of his presidency — including a potential strike on America’s enemies abroad. On Thursday, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned in an interview with the Associated Press any U.S. attack on Iran could set off a “full-fledged war” in the region.