LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Britain on Wednesday to pitch a post-Brexit ‘special relationship’ as Iran said it may stop complying with some parts of the nuclear deal which the United States withdrew from a year ago.
Pompeo arrived in London after an unannounced visit to Iraq where he explained U.S. security concerns amid rising Iranian activity.
The U.S. military said on Tuesday B-52 bombers would be part of additional forces being sent to the Middle East to counter what the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump says are “clear indications” of threats from Iran to U.S. forces there.
“The message that we’ve sent to the Iranians, I hope, puts us in a position where we can deter and the Iranians will think twice about attacking American interests,” Pompeo said, noting that U.S. intelligence was “very specific” about “attacks that were imminent.”
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Iran will resume high level enrichment of uranium if world powers do not protect its interests against U.S. sanctions, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, responding to the U.S. withdrawal from a nuclear deal a year ago.
In London, Pompeo will meet Prime Minister Theresa May who is grappling with a three-year political crisis over the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. He will also meet Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
As Britain tries to extract itself from the EU after 46 years of membership, a divorce many diplomats say has already made Britain weaker, Pompeo will give a speech on the so called special relationship with the United Kingdom.
Both Brexit and the sometimes unpredictable Trump presidency have strained relations between the world’s preeminent power and the United Kingdom, its main European ally.
Trump is due to make a state visit to the United Kingdom in June.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
