The United States announces the sending of nearly 3,000 more soldiers to the Middle East

The consequences of the targeted assassination of the Iranian leader of the Al-Quds Forces, Ghassem Soleimani, carried out in Iraq by the United States on the night of Thursday January 2 to Friday January 3, are immediate. Washington has decided to deploy between 3,000 and 3,500 additional troops to the Middle East to strengthen the security of US positions in the region, the Pentagon announced.

These soldiers are members of a rapid reaction force of the 82^e airborne division. They are in addition to the approximately 700 soldiers who were sent to Kuwait earlier this week after the attack on the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he was not looking for "Regime change" in Tehran after the elimination of what he described as "Number one terrorist" in the world. Claiming to have acted for "Stop" a war, not to start one, he assured that Ghassem Soleimani was preparing attacks "Imminent" against diplomats and the US military.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Baghdad on Friday called on nationals to leave Iraq. " at once ", "By air as long as possible, if not to other countries by land ". Iraq’s main border crossings lead to war-torn Iran and Syria, while other border crossings exist to Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Paris calls its nationals in the Middle East to "caution"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who halted a trip to Greece to return to Israel urgently, said the United States had the " law " of " to defend oneself ". Without declaring a state of emergency, the Israeli army closed access to a ski resort on Mount Hermon, a strategic site located on the Golan Heights on the border of Syria and Lebanon.

For his part, Emmanuel Macron urged the various stakeholders to " detention " for'"Avoid another dangerous escalation". In an interview with his Russian counterpart on Friday morning, the French president said "Recalled France's attachment to the sovereignty and security of Iraq and to the stability of the region". He called on Iran to "Quickly return to full compliance with its nuclear obligations and to refrain from any provocation"added the presidency in a press release.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called on Iran to avoid any reaction to the death of General Soleimani which would lead to aggravate " regional instability " as well as "A serious nuclear proliferation crisis".

The Quai d'Orsay calls for "Prudence" on its website, its nationals being in several countries of the Middle East, in particular in Iraq and Iran. He gives similar advice to the French "Residing or passing through Saudi Arabia" or in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Calls for revenge on one side …

In Iran and Iraq, calls for revenge by political and religious leaders are increasing. Iran and the "Free nations of the region" will take revenge on the United States, promised President Hassan Rohani. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s highest security body, has also promised to avenge "In the right place at the right time" General Soleimani. "America must know that its criminal attack (…) was the country's biggest mistake ", he said in a statement.

In Tehran, tens of thousands of people demonstrated to denounce the "Crimes" US. Women and men, sometimes elderly, marched through the streets after prayer, notably holding up portraits of the Iranian Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "The axis of evil is the United States, the leitmotif of religion and the Koran is:" Death to America! "", they chanted in chorus. "O leader of our revolution, condolences, condolences", they continued.

On the Iraqi side, the resigning Prime Minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, estimated that the American raid would "Start a devastating war in Iraq", denouncing "Aggression against Iraq, its state, government and people."

On the same line, the Syrian government has denounced the "Cowardly American aggression", seeing a "Serious escalation" for the Middle East, the official Syrian news agency Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad Assured General Ghassem Soleimani's Support for the Syrian Army "Will not be forgotten", in a letter addressed to the Iranian Supreme Guide, according to remarks reported by SANA.

Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s great ally, has promised "Just punishment" to the "Criminal murderers" responsible for the death of the Iranian general.

Russia has also warned of the consequences of the strike. "The assassination of Soleimani (…) is a risky step that will lead to increased tensions in the region ", said the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergei Lavrov, quoted by the RIA Novosti and TASS news agencies:

"Soleimani faithfully served the interests of Iran. We offer our sincere condolences to the Iranian people. "

… to the de-escalation of the other

Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, a leading Iraqi figure in Shiite Islam, called on all parties on Friday to exercise restraint and wisdom:

“These events and more show that our country is heading into very difficult times. We call on all concerned to behave with restraint and to act wisely. "

"The world cannot afford another war in the Gulf"said the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in a statement. In this very short text published on Friday, he also calls "Leaders to exercise maximum restraint".

Same invitation to the " detention " from the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. Urging all actors involved to "Responsibility at this crucial moment", Mr. Borrell pointed out that a "Another crisis risked endangering years of efforts to stabilize Iraq".

Saudi Arabia also called for "Restraint to avoid anything that could worsen the situation with uncontrollable consequences", the Saudi foreign ministry said on Twitter. Close to the Americans and the Saudis, the United Arab Emirates, another Arab power in the Gulf, also called for demonstrating 'Wisdom' and of "Measure", in a tweet from their Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi support the Trump administration’s firm policy against Tehran but fear reprisals from the Islamic Republic and its allies on their soil, experts say.

China, for its part, expressed its "Concern" and called " calm ". "We urge all concerned, especially in the United States, to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tensions"said Chinese diplomatic spokesman Geng Shuang.

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab also invited "All parties to de-escalation", believing that"Another conflict is not in our interest at all", just like Berlin, which expressed its "Great concern".

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "Monitor the situation very closely", one of its spokesmen said Friday. The Atlantic Alliance maintains a limited presence in Iraqi territory where it is conducting, at the request of the Iraqi government, a mission to train the country's forces to prevent the return of the Islamic State organization.