The United States is continuing threats against Iran even as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic despite Washington’s illegal sanctions.
President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that Iran was about to launch an attack on US troops occupying Iraq.
“Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on US troops and/or assets in Iraq,” claimed the American commander-in-chief on Twitter. “If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed.”
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against 20 companies on Thursday, claiming that they provided support for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and the IRGC’s Quds Force, as well as Iraq’s Kata’ib Hezbollah, a pro-government resistance group, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, a subdivision of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).
Tehran has time and again asserted that US threats and allegations are baseless and that it stands ready to defend its interests in the region.
An unnamed US intelligence official also talked to Reuters about the alleged “attack,” without disclosing its timing or precise locations.
Years after the 2003 military occupation of Iraq, the US still plays a major factor in causing tension and instability in the Muslim country.
Washington has refused to lift illegal sanctions on Iran and is keeping up with the so-called “maximum pressure” on the Iranian nation amid their fight with the globally spreading coronavirus.