Washington turns down Iraqi call to remove troops

US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence speak with senior advisers during a meeting on Iran’s military attack on US military facilities in Iraq, in the Situation Room of the White House in Washington, US, January 8, 2020. [Reuters]

Washington on Friday spurned an Iraqi request to prepare to pull out its troops, amid heightened US-Iranian tensions after the US killing of an Iranian commander in Baghdad, and said it was exploring a possible expansion of NATO’s presence there.

Seeking to tighten pressure on its foe, the United States meanwhile imposed more sanctions on Iran, responding to an attack on US troops in Iraq launched by Tehran in retaliation for the death of General Qassem Soleimani.