WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2019) The United States has no interest in escalating tensions with Iran or going to war with the middle Eastern country, Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said following closed-door briefings in Congress.
"Our biggest focus at this point is to prevent Iranian miscalculation. We do not want the situation to escalate. This is about deterrence, not about war. We are not about going to war. This is about continuing to protect our interest in the Middle East," Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday.
The acting defense chief said that US intelligence indicating possible attacks on American personnel had deterred possible attacks.
Shanahan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top defense and security officials were on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to provide closed-door briefings to the Senate and the House of Representatives on Iranian threats and steps the Trump administration is taking to protect its interests in the Middle East.
The United States has in recent weeks stepped up its military forces in the region in what US National Security Adviser John Bolton has called "a clear and unmistakable message" to Iran. The new US deployments in the Middle East include a carrier strike group, Patriot missiles, B-52 bombers and F-15 fighters, according to the Pentagon.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Iran does not intend to wage war with the United States but will continue to resist Washington.
US-Iranian tensions first flared up last year when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and started reinstating sanctions. On May 8, Iran announced its decision to partially discontinue its obligations under the nuclear agreement.
