The alert, published on the embassy\u2019s website, comes after Washington last week said it had detected new and urgent threats from Iran and its proxy forces in the region targeting Americans and American interests.<\/span><\/p>\n Continues \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n The USS Abraham Lincoln is currently leading a carrier battle group sailing toward the Persian Gulf, in what the U.S. claims is a response to heightened threat levels from Iran and its proxies. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n The top British general in the US-led coalition against Isis has said there is no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria<\/a>, directly contradicting US assertions used to justify a military buildup in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n Hours later however, his assessment was disowned by US Central Command in an extraordinary rebuke of an allied senior officer. A spokesman insisted that the troops in Iraq<\/a> and Syria were on a high level of alert due to the alleged Iranian threat. The conflicting versions of the reality on the ground added to the confusion and mixed signals in a tense part of the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n Maj Gen Christopher Ghika, who is a deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the coalition conducting counter-terrorist operations against Isis in Iraq and Syria, was repeatedly questioned by reporters about the threat from Shia militias in Syria and Iraq, cited by US officials over the past week as justification for speeding up the deployment of an aircraft carrier<\/strong><\/span><\/a> strike group in the Gulf and for sending B-52 Stratofortress bombers and an anti-aircraft battery to the region.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo \u2013 there\u2019s been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria,\u201d Ghika said in a video<\/a>link briefing<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>from Baghdad to the Pentagon. \u201cWe\u2019re aware of that presence, clearly. And we monitor them along with a whole range of others because that\u2019s the environment we\u2019re in. We are monitoring the Shia militia groups. I think you\u2019re referring to carefully and if the threat level seems to go up then we\u2019ll raise our force protection measures accordingly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n On Tuesday night, US Central Command \u2013 whose area of operations covers the Middle East and Afghanistan \u2013 put out a statement refuting <\/strong><\/span><\/a>Ghika\u2019s comments<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\nNo increased Iran threat in Syria or Iraq, top British officer says, contradicting US<\/h1>\n
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<\/a>Julien Borger \u2013 The Guardian May 15, 2019<\/h2>\n