IRNA - Head of Presidential Office Mahmoud Vaezi in a message said the US accuses Iran of threatening regional security and stability to cover up its crimes in the region. The US has accused Iran of posing a threat to stability and security in the region, supporting terrorism, and imposing on international criminal court (ICC) to cover up its crimes ...

Reuters - The United States is trying to secure permission from Iraq to take Patriot missile defenses into the country to better defend U.S. forces after Irans Jan. 8 missile attack, which wounded 50 American troops, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday. The United States did not have Patriot air defenses deployed to al-Asad air base in ...

Reuters - U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Sunday said he did not see specific evidence from intelligence officials that Iran was planning to attack four U.S. embassies, an assertion made by President Donald Trump in justifying the killing of Irans top general. While Esper said he agreed with Trump that additional attacks against U.S. embassies ...

The Guardian | Julian Borger: US defence secretary says no decision made to evacuate despite letter to contrary as thousands gather in General Qassem Suleimanis home town The future of the US military presence in Iraq is in question amid scenes of confusion in Washington, as the Trump administration scrambled to respond to Iraqi demands for the ...

RT - Some 750 paratroopers from the US Armys 82nd Airborne Division are already on their way to Kuwait, and more may soon follow, after the US Embassy in Baghdad was stormed and nearly taken by angry Iraqi militiamen. The 82nds alert brigade was ordered to deploy on Tuesday evening, Fox News reported, citing multiple Pentagon officials, shortly ...

RT - Top national security advisers told President Donald Trump that the air raids against Shia militias in Iraq and Syria were a total success and briefed him on other ways to punish Iran for the alleged attacks on US interests. We will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy, US State ...

AP | LOLITA C. BALDOR: Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that he will urge allies later this week to contribute more to the defense of Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region to counter threats from Iran. The plan is part of a broader U.S. campaign to get NATO allies to take on more responsibility for security in the Persian Gulf, including ...

Reuters |Idrees Ali: U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, with tensions simmering between Washington and Tehran, and Russia seeking to boost its influence in the Middle East. Esper is likely to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his first trip to the key regional ally since taking office this ...

Press TV - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says all of the American troops pulling out of northeastern Syria will move to western Iraq. The US withdrawal continues apace from northeastern Syria... were talking weeks not days, Esper told reporters en route to the Middle East late on Saturday, noting that the process is being conducted via aircraft ...

Reuters - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday approved sending American troops to bolster Saudi Arabias air and missile defenses after the largest-ever attack on the kingdoms oil facilities, which Washington has squarely blamed on Iran. The Pentagon said the deployment would involve a moderate number of troops - not numbering thousands - and would ...

Press TV - The US military is preparing a response to the recent Yemeni drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has said. Esper briefed US President Donald Trump in the White House on Monday following the attacks on two Saudi Aramco oil facilities on Saturday that knocked out more than half the kingdoms production....

MNA US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday he currently had no plan on his desk to seize the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, despite earlier reports about US offering of cash to its captain to hand it over. We do not talk about plans, but currently I have no plan right now sitting on my desk to do such a thing, Esper told ...

Russia Today - The US is seeking to pull Australia into its escalating row with Tehran, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting Canberras help to secure shipping routes against unprovoked attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Pompeo and Pentagon chief Mark Esper met with their Australian counterparts, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defense ...

Press TV - United States Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he is in favor of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia, a day after the United States pulled itself from a Cold War era arms control pact. In an interview on Saturday, the new Pentagon chief, however, did not specify where the United States intended to deploy the ...