Potential for Iran attacks ‘put on hold’

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Tuesday that while threats from Iran in the Middle East remained high, deterrence measures taken by the Pentagon had “put on hold” the potential for attacks on Americans. It was unclear exactly what Shanahan meant and Pentagon officials could not immediately clarify whether the threat from Iran had been diminished.

“There haven’t been any attacks on Americans. I would consider that a hold,” Shanahan told reporters.

“That doesn’t mean that the threats that we’ve previously identified have gone away. Our prudent response, I think, has given the Iranians time to recalculate,” Shanahan said.

The U.S. military deployed a carrier strike group, bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East earlier this month in response to what Washington said were troubling indications of possible preparations for an attack by Iran.

Rhetoric between Tehran and Washington has escalated in recent weeks as the United States tightened sanctions with what it said was the goal of pushing Iran to make concessions beyond the terms of a 2015 multinational deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018.

Trump warned Monday that Iran would be met with “great force” if it attacked U.S. interests in the Middle East. U.S. government sources said Washington strongly suspected Shiite militias with ties to Tehran were behind a rocket attack in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

“I just hope Iran is listening. We’re in the region to address many things, but it is not to go to war with Iran,” Shanahan said earlier Tuesday. He added that it was a period where the threat remained high and the focus was on making sure there was “no miscalculations by the Iranians.”

U.S. government sources told Reuters last week they believed Iran encouraged Houthi militants or Iraq-based Shiite militias to carry out attacks on tankers off the UAE.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a radio interview that the United States had yet to reach a definitive conclusion he could speak publicly about.

“But given all the regional conflicts that we have seen over the past decade and the shape of these attacks, it seems like it’s quite possible that Iran was behind these,” he told the Hugh Hewitt show.

Iran has portrayed the hot-and-cold rhetoric as evidence Trump is being goaded into war against his better judgment by hard-line aides such as national security adviser John Bolton.

“Right after threatening Iran, they were forced to say they do not seek a war,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in televised remarks Tuesday. “Iranians will never bow to a bully.”

Underlining the tensions, Rouhani is seeking expanded executive powers to better deal with “economic war” triggered by the Trump’s administration’s renewal and escalation of sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.Rouhani won two landslide elections in Iran on promises to ease its international isolation. But Trump’s decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal has helped ensure that Iranians have felt little or no economic benefit from Rouhani’s policies.

The rial currency lost about 60 percent of its value in 2018 under the threat of the revived U.S. sanctions, boosting inflation and provoking sporadic demonstrations.

Iran has cracked down on businessmen it accuses of profiteering.

It remains unclear what powers Rouhani seeks. In Iran’s 1980s war with Iraq, a wartime supreme council was able to bypass other branches to make decisions regarding the economy and the war.

“Today, we need such powers,” Rouhani said. He added that country “is united that we should resist the U.S. and the sanctions.”

Washington’s European allies say they share U.S. concerns about Iran’s behavior, but disagree with Trump’s decision to pull out of the nuclear deal, arguing that it undermines Rouhani’s pragmatic faction and boosts Iran’s hard-liners.

They have sought to ensure Iran still benefits from the nuclear deal by finding ways for foreign companies to do business there.

But in practice this has so far failed, with companies canceling investments for fear of U.S. punishment.

Iran said this month it could resume uranium enrichment beyond levels allowed in the nuclear deal if European countries do not find ways to ease financial pressure within 60 days.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the Iranian threats were not helpful. “I do not think that Europe will get drawn into this idea of an ultimatum,” Le Maire told reporters.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi said Tuesday Iraq would send delegations to both Washington and Tehran to help ease the tension between them.

Washington abruptly pulled nonessential staff from its embassy in Baghdad last week, citing a threat from Iran-backed militias in Iraq.