Iraq says U.S. military’s plan to extend presence to deter Iran needs to be renegotiated

Iraqi government officials pushed back hard Monday on the Trump administration’s plans to maintain a U.S. military presence in Iraq, to keep tabs on Iranian aggression in the region.

Iraqi President Barham Salih said Washington had not consulted with Baghdad on plans to maintain a U.S. military presence in the country, as a bulwark against Tehran’s efforts to expand its influence in the Middle East.

Any such effort would require a renegotiation of the current agreement between the U.S. and Baghdad on American troops being deployed in the country. Currently, U.S. forces are stationed in Iraq under a limited bilateral military agreement with Iraq, to battle Islamic State elements based in the country.

“The U.S. is a major power … but do not pursue your own policy priorities. We live here.” Mr. Salih said during a speech in Baghdad, regarding Mr. Trump’s comments on an extended U.S. military mission in Iraq.

In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Mr. Trump said the U.S. wanted to maintain its military footprint in Iraq, after spending “a fortune” in establishing that armed presence to support the fight against the Islamic State or ISIS.

“One of the reasons I want to keep [troops] is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem,” Mr. Trump said Sunday.

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“It’s perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up,” he added, noting the Iranian regime remains “a vicious country that kills many people.”

Responding to Mr. Trump’s comments Monday, Mr. Salih said: “It is of fundamental interest for Iraq to have good relations with Iran.” Washington, he added, should not “overburden Iraq with your own issues,” Reuters reported.

Iranian-backed paramilitary forces, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, played a large role in driving ISIS from its self-styled Iraqi capital of Mosul in 2017 and the group’s other redoubts in the northern part of the country.

But top U.S. intelligence officials last week contradicted Mr. Trump’s claims in recent weeks, with the heads of the CIA, FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence telling Congress that North Korea, China and other near-peer competitors pose a greater threat to the U.S., compared to Iran.

National security officials in the White House, led by National Security Adviser John R. Bolton, are reportedly pressing the administration to take a harder line against Tehran — including possible military action.