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Trump Says US Involved in Many Oil Prospects in Iraq

© REUTERS / Essam Al-SudaniA worker walks at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, north of Basra, Iraq December 21, 2015
A worker walks at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, north of Basra, Iraq December 21, 2015 - Sputnik International
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US President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that the US has very few soldiers in Iraq, but that they are there to help should Iran do anything.

"We deal with if there are attacks we take care of those attacks. So we take care of them very easily," Trump said. "Nobody has the weaponry we have. Nobody has the anything of what we have. We have the finest the greatest military in the world. When somebody hits us, we hit back harder than they hit us. So we handle it."

He proceeded by saying that US companies are involved in many prospects in Iraq's oil business as the country's prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, announced that Iraq is open for American business and investments.

On Wednesday, five US companies signed agreements with the Iraqi government in a move described as being aimed at boosting Iraq's energy independence from Iran.

The agreements signed by Honeywell International Inc, Baker Hughes Co, General Electric Co, Stellar Energy, and Chevron are worth some $8 billion.

The US administration and Baghdad previously agreed that American forces will reduce the number of their servicemen stationed in Iraq after the country's parliament adopted a resolution requesting that US troops leave the country.

The resolution was approved following a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy head of Iraq's Shia militia Hashd al-Shaabi near Baghdad.

Trump Says US to Retaliate if Bounties on Its Troops Proved to be True

President Trump has also stated that the United States would hit back against other countries found to offer bounties for attacks on US troops in Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters ride in their vehicle in Surkhroad district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, June 16, 2018 - Sputnik International
US ‘Deep State’ Sabotaging Taliban Peace Plan With ‘Dubious’ Bounty Leaks to the Press - Analyst
Earlier this week, CNN reported, citing unnamed intelligence sources, that the Haqqani Network, led by Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, may have received payments from Iran for at least six attacks on coalition forces, including an assault on Bagram Air Base in December 2019.

At the same time, in early August, unnamed US officials told The New York Times that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a vague warning to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last month that Russia should refrain from offering bounties to Taliban fighters to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan, as the NYT claimed was happening.

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