Pompeo starts Middle East visit to ramp up Iran pressure

AMMAN, Jordan -- The Trump administration is doubling down on commercial and diplomatic efforts in the coming weeks to "put real pressure on Iran," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the start of a Mideast tour Tuesday.

Pompeo is meeting with U.S. allies in the region, including stops in Jordan, Egypt and several Gulf nations, to coordinate an anti-Iran campaign.

The trip comes amid confusion over conflicting statements by President Donald Trump and senior U.S. officials about a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria. Trump made the surprise announcement about a withdrawal last month, saying some 2,000 troops fighting alongside Syrian Kurdish allies in northeastern Syria against Islamic State extremists would be pulled out soon. He did not give details, such as a timetable, leaving bewildered U.S. partners in the region jockeying for influence over terms of a withdrawal.

Pompeo contended Tuesday the planned withdrawal from Syria would not complicate the administration's anti-Iran campaign. He said U.S. allies in the region, including Jordan, agree on what they view as the "enormous risk" Iran poses for the region.

"The president's decision to withdraw our folks from Syria in no way impacts our capacity to deliver on that," he said in a joint news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. "You will see in the coming days and weeks that we are doubling not only our diplomatic but our commercial efforts to put real pressure on Iran to achieve what it is we set out for them back in May."

The Trump administration in November restored U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers. The sanctions cover Iran's shipping, financial and energy sectors. They are the second batch the administration has re-imposed since Trump withdrew from the accord in May.

Later Tuesday, Pompeo met with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the royal palace in the capital of Amman.