Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters that Moscow had repeatedly warned Washington and its regional allies about the “unthinking and reckless pumping up of tensions in an explosive region.”
“Now what we see are unending and sustained US attempts to crank up political, psychological, economic and, yes, military pressure on Iran in quite a provocative way. They (these actions) cannot be assessed as anything but a conscious course to provoke war,” Ryabkov was cited as saying by Russian news agencies.
If Washington did not want war it had to show it, he said.
“If that’s really how it is then the US should step back from reinforcing its military presence,” said Ryabkov.
The comments followed an announcement from Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan a day earlier who said Washington planned to send around 1,000 more troops to the Middle East for defensive purposes.
Patrick Shanahan on Tuesday abandoned his quest for the top Pentagon job.
US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Shanahan had withdrawn from consideration for the post "so that he can devote more time to his family."