US Mideast Military Commander Wants Stronger Presence as Iran Threatens America

The commander of US forces in the Middle East says a stronger US presence may be needed in the region, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Gen. Frank Mckenzie, head of US Central Command, says the deployment of a carrier group to the Arabian Sea has tamped down the recent Iranian threat.

But he added that the danger from Iran is ongoing and the US needs a sustained, credible force to keep the situation stable.

He declined to give details on any recommendations to the Pentagon.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke out Monday about the heightened level of tensions between the US and his country, saying, "Whoever starts a war with us will not be the one who finishes it."

The stern-faced Zarif offered a series of threats over the ongoing tensions gripping the Persian Gulf. Iran blames the crisis on President Donald Trump's decision over a year ago to withdraw America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But critics say the crisis is really about Iran building nuclear weapons to threaten the US and its allies and then blackmailing the US into a nuclear deal.
  
"Mr. Trump himself has announced that the US has launched an economic war against Iran," Zarif said. "The only solution for reducing tensions in this region is stopping that economic war."
 
The US pulled out of the Iranian nuclear agreement last year. Iran gave the remaining members of the agreement an ultimatum, urging them to fix the deal or Iran will increase its enrichment of uranium. 

The Islamic regime gave European leaders until July 7 to salvage the deal. 
  
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met with Iranian leaders and insisted his country and other European nations want to find a way to save the nuclear deal.