Latest news with #Michael"Erik"Kurilla
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
US to pull some personnel from the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran
Britain's Foreign Office said it was monitoring the situation and would keep its embassy in Iraq under constant review following the US moves. Iraq, a rare regional partner of both the United States and its arch regional foe Iran, hosts 2,500 US troops although Tehran-backed armed factions are linked to its security forces. Tensions inside Iraq have heightened since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with Iran-aligned armed groups in the country repeatedly attacking US troops, though attacks have subsided since last year. Israel and Iran also twice exchanged fire last year - the first ever such direct attacks between the region's most entrenched enemies - with missiles and war drones hurtling across Iraqi airspace. Top US regional ally Israel has also struck Iran-linked targets across the region, including Iraqi armed groups operating both inside Iraq and in neighbouring Syria. In recent months the United States has deployed more military assets in the Middle East, including B-2 bombers, which have since been replaced, and extending the deployment of a second aircraft carrier, which has since departed. The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States is due in the coming days with Iran expected to hand over a counter proposal after rejecting an offer by Washington. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that a military threat had always been part of the United States' negotiation tactics with Iran. 'Any military action against Iran, whether by the US or Israel, will have serious consequences,' the official warned. Iran's UN mission on Wednesday posted on X: "Threats of 'overwhelming force' won't change facts: Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon and US militarism only fuels instability." The statement appeared to be a response to an earlier comment by US Army General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, that he had provided the president with "a wide range of options" to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Kurilla postponed testimony he was due to deliver before US lawmakers on Thursday because of tensions in the Middle East, two other US officials said.
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
US has to have relationship with Pakistan, India: American general
Reuters FILE PHOTO: General Michael "Erik" Kurilla , Commander of U.S. Central Command The United States has to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India, a top US general has said, noting that it cannot be a "binary switch" where Washington cannot have ties with Islamabad if it has relations with New Delhi. US Army General Michael Kurilla, Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), made the comments during a testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. "We have to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can't have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India," Kurilla said. "We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has." "ISIS Khorasan (ISIS K) is perhaps one of the most active in trying to do external plots globally to include against the homeland. The Taliban is going after ISIS K - they hate each other, and have pushed a lot of them into the tribal areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border," he said at the full Committee Hearing on 'US Military Posture and National Security Challenges AFRICOM + CENTCOM.' "Through a phenomenal partnership with Pakistan, they have gone after ISIS Khorasan, killing dozens of them. Through a relationship we have with them providing intelligence, they have captured at least five ISIS Khorasan high value individuals." He said they extradited ISIS-K terrorist Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as "Jafar," to face charges for his role in the August 26, 2021 Abbey Gate bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that killed 13 United States military service members and about 160 civilians. Kurilla added that he was the first person Pakistan's then Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir had called and had said 'I've caught him. I'm willing to extradite him back to the United States. Please tell the Secretary of Defence and the President'." "So we are seeing Pakistan, with limited intelligence that we're providing them, go after them, using their means to do that, and we're seeing an effect on ISIS-K" "The ISIS-K terrorists are continuing to move around and sometimes they'll try and go back into Afghanistan.... ... for the most part right now, they're hanging out right in that border area of Pakistan," he added. Pakistan is "in an active counterterrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world," the top general added. Kurilla's comments came days after an all-party Indian Parliamentary delegation visited the US to convey India's strong resolve to combat terrorism emanating from Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US military evaluating options to prevent nuclear-armed Iran, general says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The top U.S. general overseeing American forces in the Middle East said on Tuesday there were a range of options when asked if the military was prepared to respond with overwhelming force to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. "I have provided the secretary of defense and the president with a wide range of options," U.S. Army General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), told a congressional hearing. Kurilla was responding to Representative Mike Rogers of Alabama, the chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, who asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions. "I take that as a yes?" the Alabama Republican asked, after Kurilla responded. "Yes," Kurilla said. Iran said on Monday it would soon hand a counterproposal for a nuclear deal to the United States in response to a U.S. offer that Tehran deems unacceptable, while U.S. President Donald Trump said talks would continue.
