The ‘mind-boggling’ request came after two incidents in Iraq last September when militia mortar and rockets exploded near US diplomatic facilities
The White House asked the Pentagon to draw up options for military strikes against Iran in the wake of two incidents in Iraq last September when mortar shells and rockets fired by militias exploded near US diplomatic facilities, it was reported on Sunday.
Related: US will expel every last Iranian boot from Syria, says Mike Pompeo
Continue reading...Downgrade of diplomatic role seen as a snub reflecting a general antipathy to the EU in the Trump administration
The Trump administration has downgraded the diplomatic status of the EU mission in Washington, without informing the mission or Brussels, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Related: Trump calls European Union a 'foe' – ahead of Russia and China
Continue reading...Adviser indicates long stay for troops while president claims he never said withdrawal would be quick
US troops will not leave north-eastern Syria until Islamic State militants are defeated and US-allied Kurdish fighters protected, national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday, signaling a pause to a withdrawal abruptly announced last month and initially expected to be completed within weeks. Achieving such conditions will likely take months or even years.
Related: Trump: US has killed al-Qaida militant tied to USS Cole bombing
Continue reading...The US could leave some troops at a key military outpost in southern Syria, a Trump administration official told reporters on Saturday, despite the president’s controversial decision to withdraw all troops from the war-racked country.
Related: Trump slows Syria pullout but claims 'hero' status
Continue reading...Comments come as the US secretary of state embarks on a tour of Arab capitals
The US does not believe the official Saudi version of the murder of the Washington Post columnist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi is credible, a senior administration official has said.
The official was speaking to the press before the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, embarks next week on an tour of eight Arab capitals, seeking to shore up support for US policy, and to reassure allies that the US is not abandoning the region despite Donald Trump’s order for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria.
Continue reading...British foreign secretary says Paul Whelan should not be used as a diplomatic pawn
The British foreign secretary has warned Russia not to try to use Paul Whelan, the British–American national arrested on spying charges, as a diplomatic pawn.
Jeremy Hunt said the UK was “extremely worried” about Hunt and had offered consular assistance. It emerged on Friday that Whelan, detained a week ago in Moscow, also holds Irish and Canadian passports, adding more layers of complexity to a potentially fraught diplomatic incident.
Continue reading...For all his antics on the Mexican border, the US president is right to be withdrawing troops from Syria
For a Briton to spend time in the US just now is a blessed relief. Whole days pass, and no talk of Brexit. It is as if a pall has lifted from the art of conversation. But the US has its own deep divide, slashing through the populist body politic. It is Donald Trump and “America first”.
Trump has become a phenomenon. Like Samson in the temple, he seems able to topple the entire edifice of policy. Down crashes America’s government machine for the sake of a wall, world trade is devastated, stock markets plummet, alliances lie in ruins. It is astonishing what one man can do to the world, virtually alone.
Continue reading...British foreign secretary says Russian support for Syrian regime means change unlikely
The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has admitted for the first time that Russian support for the Syrian regime means Bashar al-Assad will remain in power for some time.
The UK has been at the forefront of calls for the Syrian president to leave office as part of a transition to a new government, but over the past year British diplomats have acknowledged that Assad would have to be allowed to stand in any UN-supervised democratic elections in Syria.
Continue reading...US could withdraw from a second treaty while Vladimir Putin’s Russia promises a new generation of nuclear weapons
The decision on whether or not to destroy the world came down to a humble Soviet duty officer early one morning in 1983. Stanislav Petrov was told by his computer that the United States had launched at least five intercontinental ballistic missiles at the Soviet Union, and that they would strike in just 25 minutes.
Rather than send the alarm up the chain of command, the lieutenant colonel did nothing and averted a nuclear clash over what turned out to be a systems malfunction. For his troubles, Petrov was reprimanded for failing to keep careful notes during the incident and left the service the following year.
Continue reading...Embassy in Moscow offers help to arrested US citizen during meeting in ex-KGB prison
The US ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, has visited a former marine in a Moscow prison where he is being held on espionage charges, the state department has confirmed.
Paul Whelan, who is head of global security for a Michigan-based car parts supplier, was detained in Russia on Friday. In announcing the arrest three days later, the Russian Federal Security Service said he was caught “during an espionage operation”, but gave no details.
Continue reading...Palestinian leaders have rejected Washington as a mediator and Israeli politicians openly deride peace efforts
After two years of drum-rolling, Donald Trump’s “ultimate deal” for Israelis and Palestinians is about to enter what its architects claim is the pre-launch phase.
The US president has said the peace plan drawn up by his team – two former personal lawyers and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner – will be ready to unveil by the end of January.
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