ME in 'further danger'

• Syria rejects idea of Iranian withdrawal

• Iran FM slams Pompeo  remarks as indecent

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday that the United States risks further destabilising the Middle East after Washington warned Iran faced the "strongest sanctions in history".

"The sanctions to be launched against Iran will not foster dialogue. On the contrary, they will boost the importance and power of Iran's conservatives and weaken president (Hassan) Rouhani, who wanted to negotiate," Le Drian told France Inter radio. "Ultimately, this stance is likely to put the region in further danger than it is today."

On May 8, US President Donald Trump pulled out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which curbs the country's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

The decision to withdraw from the accord marked a stark diplomatic defeat for Europe, whose leaders, repeatedly and in person, had called on Trump to think again.

Speaking Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Tehran would be hit with the "strongest sanctions in history" and cautioned European firms against continuing to do business with the Islamic republic.

Le Drian yesterday warned of a "regional explosion" because of the Syrian civil war and the Iranian nuclear crisis. Asked if there was a risk of a new conflict, he replied "yes".

He referred to rockets fired from "Iranian arms based in Syria" on May 10 on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which prompted return fire by Israel against Iranian targets inside Syria, reported AFP.

"The conditions are all there so that if by chance something happened, perhaps on purpose, perhaps not, there could be an escalation," he added.

In Damascus, Syria's deputy foreign minister dismissed the notion of a withdrawal of Iranian forces.

In Syria's seven-year-old conflict, Iran has provided vital support to President Bashar al-Assad's military. Its forces and the militias it backs from the region, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, helped Damascus claw back control of major cities from militants and rebels, reported Reuters.

"Whether Iranian forces or Hezbollah withdraw or stay in Syria is not up for discussion because it's the (business) of the Syrian government," Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV cited Faisal Mekdad as saying.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Pompeo had repeated old allegations against Tehran "only with a stronger and more indecent tone".

"Mr Pompeo and other US officials in the current administration are prisoners of their wrong illusions, prisoners of their past and have been taken hostage by corrupt pressure groups," he told state television.

A senior Iranian military official, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, said Iran would not bow to Washington's pressure to limit its military activities.

"This enemy (the United States) does not have the courage for military confrontation and face-to-face war with Iran, but it's trying to put economic and mental pressures on the Iranian nation," state news agency IRNA reported him as saying.