The US is scheduled to deploy 750 new troops to defend the US embassy in Iraq, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday night, following protests by Iran-backed groups that marched on the compound in retaliation for US strikes Sunday that killed 25 Kataeb Hezbollah fighters.
Three U.S. defense officials confirmed late Tuesday night that 4,000 troops from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s alert brigade are preparing to mobilize to the Middle East after protesters encircled the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier in the day.
One hundred marines were deployed to the US embassy in Iraq Tuesday under a “show of force” from two Apache helicopters, as Iraqi protestors assaulted the compound in retaliation for US strikes on Iran-backed forces that killed 25 militants.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq vowed to respond to US strikes Sunday that killed between 12 and 24 fighters sponsored by Iran, as the US promised to continue battling Iranian influence in the region.
12 Iran-backed fighters were killed in Iraq and Syria Sunday, as the US retaliated for a Friday strike by Iran proxies that left 4 American servicemen wounded and killed a military contractor.
Iran, Russia, and China began four days of naval drills in the Gulf of Oman Friday, following Iran’s activation of advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium at greater speeds.
Turkey is preparing to send troops and advanced weapons to the embattled UN-backed Libyan government. The military muscle-flexing puts it at odds with Russia and several Arab states backing Libya’s rival government.
Iran’s armed forces will hold a joint, four-day naval exercise with Russia and China in the northern part of the Indian Ocean, a spokesman said Wednesday.
President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has got a strong edge in designing new weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons.
A top Iranian official said that Israel ‘will regret’ its attacks in Syria, which have reportedly targeted Iranian resources and weapons shipments.
President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would ‘very shortly’ sign their so-called Phase One trade pact.
Turkey cannot handle a fresh wave of migrants from Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, warning that European countries will feel the impact of such an influx if violence in Syria’s northwest is not stopped.
American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday a new wave of sanctions against Iran for its harsh repression of protests that began on November 15 over austerity fuel prices.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced Wednesday his country would employ a new line of advanced centrifuges to speed up uranium enrichment, reducing the time it would take the Islamic Republic to acquire a nuclear weapon to under a year.
Britain set a hard deadline of December 2020 on Tuesday to reach a new trade deal with the European Union, betting that the prospect of another Brexit cliff-edge would force Brussels to move more quickly than usual to seal an accord.
President Trump and Boris Johnson spoke Monday about negotiating a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will “get Brexit done” by Jan. 31 and then agree on a new trade deal with the European Union by the end of 2020, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said on Sunday, vowing to deliver on the government’s top priority.
The Trump administration announced Sunday that it would drop its plans to impose tariffs on $160 billion of Chinese goods in exchange for Chinese investment in American farming as part of the promised trade deal between the two nations.
President Donald Trump signed off on a so-called phase-one trade deal with China, averting the Dec. 15 introduction of a new wave of U.S. tariffs on about $160 billion of consumer goods from the Asian nation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Conservative Party looks in line for a decisive win in Thursday’s British general election – the third in less than five years – with exit polls suggesting it would take 368 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, 42 more than the minimum needed for a majority government.