US dials back Iran war rhetoric but adds troops: Update

President Donald Trump today sent about 1,500 troops to the Middle East as part of a push to counter Iran but doubts a major deployment will be needed.

Trump said he was deploying a "relatively small number of troops" to the region that would be functioning in a mostly protective role. But he also downplayed the threat from Iran and cast the country as a smaller player in the Middle East, compared with when he took office two years ago.

"Right now, I do not think Iran wants to fight, and I certainly do not think they want to fight with us," Trump said as he prepared to leave for a trip to Japan. "But they cannot have nuclear weapons."

About 5,000 US personnel are permanently stationed in the Middle East, and another 5,000 are involved in counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria. US acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan said today's deployment was "a prudent response to credible threats from Iran." But he earlier pushed back on reports that as many as 10,000 ground troops may be sent.

"Our job is deterrence, it is not about war," Shanahan said yesterday.

Democratic members of the US Congress earlier this week criticized the administration for issuing undefined warnings of US threats and announcing a deployment of an aircraft carrier group and a bomber group to confront those threats. Additional deployments run the risk of provoking a military conflict with Iran, Democratic lawmakers said.

Shanahan said that the US wants "to avoid the risk of Iranian miscalculation."

The State Department lauded efforts by Germany and other allies to de-escalate the situation, which included a 23 May visit by German foreign ministry political director Jens Plotner to Tehran.

The marked toning down of US rhetoric — after repeated threats to resort to force earlier this month — may reflect Trump's stated aversion to US military presence in the Middle East.

"The US should not have been in the Middle East to begin with," Trump said yesterday ahead of a meeting with his senior military and civilian advisers to discuss the options on Iran.

Another factor is the administration's growing confidence that the oil sanctions regime is working. The State Department yesterday highlighted statements by officials from India and Turkey that those countries have stopped purchasing crude from Iran following the termination of waivers from US sanctions earlier this month.

"We want the whole world to comply with these sanctions, and we are grateful for our partners and allies that are respecting them," the State Department said.

But it has declined to confirm whether China has stopped purchases as well. China, which is the largest market for Iranian crude, has taken 460,000 b/d in November-April.

US sanctions provide for financial and criminal penalties on any foreign company purchasing crude from Iran and financial institutions that enable the trade. Any significant transaction is subject to sanctions, and the Treasury has a broad definition for what "significant" means. That includes the size and frequency of transactions, the level of intent to circumvent US sanctions, its effect on US foreign policy goals and "other factors the Treasury Department deems relevant on a case-by-case basis."