General Says US Will Ensure Resources Needed to Counter Iran

U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said Saturday that the United States would deploy the necessary resources to counter any dangerous actions by Iran, Sky News Arabia reported.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration last year withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions.

“We’re going to continue to reach out to our partners and friends in the region to ensure that we make common cause against the threat of Iran,” McKenzie, on an official visit to the Gulf region, was quoted as saying.

“I believe we’ll have the resources necessary to deter Iran from taking actions that will be dangerous. We will be able to respond effectively,” he said, according to a transcript released by the Abu Dhabi-based channel.

Washington on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers. The United States, earlier this month, also blacklisted Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

“On the long term, we’re going to reduce our forces in Syria, we recognize that, that’s the guidance in which we are operating. That will be something that we will look at very carefully as we go forward,” the general said as he talked about how a reduction of U.S. troops in Syria would be done cautiously.

President Donald Trump had ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops Syria in December after he said they had defeated Islamic State militants in Syria.