BAGHDAD – Washington on Friday spurned an Iraqi request to prepare to pull out its troops, amid heightened United States (US)-Iranian tensions after the US killing of an Iranian commander in Baghdad.
The State Department said any US delegation would not discuss the withdrawal of US troops as their presence in Iraq was “appropriate.”
The US meanwhile, imposed more sanctions on Iran, responding to an attack on US troops in Iraq launched by Tehran in retaliation for the death of General Qassem Soleimani.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi made his request for preparations for a US troop withdrawal in a phone call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday in line with a vote in Iraq’s parliament last week, his office said.(Reuters)
