TILLERSON WOOS GULF ALLIES IN PUSH TO UNDERCUT IRAN

TILLERSON WOOS GULF ALLIES IN PUSH TO UNDERCUT IRAN.

RIYADH – Top U.S. diplomat Rex Tillerson pursued efforts to curb Tehran's influence in talks with his country's Gulf allies on Sunday (October 22), demanding that Iran pare down its involvement in Iraq as the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) draws to a close.

The question of Iranian influence in the region -- including in Iraq and Qatar -- is at the center of Tillerson's visit to Riyadh and Doha, which comes just weeks after President Donald Trump refused to certify the Iran nuclear deal and declared an aggressive new strategy against Tehran.

The U.S. secretary of state appears focused on boosting Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia's clout in Iraq, where Shia forces backed by Tehran are fighting in the north, as part of a wider regional battle for influence that extends from Syria to Yemen.

"Certainly Iranian militias that are in Iraq, now that the fighting against [the Islamic State group] is coming to a close, those militias need to go home," Tillerson said at a press conference in Riyadh.

"All foreign fighters need to go home."

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) -- powerful paramilitary units dominated by Iranian-trained Shia militias -- have been part of the fight against ISIS and continue to battle different factions in Iraq.

But Tillerson's remarks were also aimed at Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and their foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, according to a senior U.S. official.

"The position of the Iraqi government and the position of our government is that there should be a single Iraqi security force answerable to the Iraqi state," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"What happens to the PMFs is they go home or they integrate into the Iraqi security forces."

(NRT/AFP)