LONDON • Iran's announcement that it is scaling back commitments to curb its nuclear activities under a 2015 deal was "intentionally ambiguous", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a visit to London yesterday.

"I think it was intentionally ambiguous... We'll have to wait and see what Iran's actions actually are" before deciding the US response, Mr Pompeo said after a meeting with British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt.

"They've made a number of statements on actions they intend to do in order to get the world to jump. We'll see what they actually do. The United States will wait to observe that and, when we do, we'll make good decisions," he said.

"I'm confident as we watch Iran's activity, that the United Kingdom and our European partners will move forward together to ensure that Iran has no pathway to a nuclear weapons system," he said.

Mr Pompeo also raised the subject of Instex, a trade mechanism launched by Britain, France and Germany earlier this year in a bid to allow Teheran to keep trading with EU companies bypassing US sanctions.

"We talked to (the) UK, Germany and France about Instex. There are provisions in the sanctions we put in place that allow humanitarian aid and certain products to get into the country," he said.

"We said so long as that vehicle is being used for that limited purpose, non-sanction purpose, it's of course unobjectionable. When transactions move beyond that... we will evaluate, review it, and if appropriate there will be sanctions against those who were involved in that transaction," he added.

Mr Pompeo was also set to hold talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday.

Mr Pompeo scrapped a visit to Germany to make an unannounced trip to Iraq on Tuesday, pressing Iraqi leaders about what he called the increased dangers to Americans there from Iran's forces and allies. Mr Pompeo said he also used the four-hour visit on Tuesday to push what he described as Iraq's need to avoid dependence on neighbouring Iran for power supplies, including electricity.

The diversion to Iraq by Mr Pompeo, who was in the midst of a four-day European tour, added to what is an escalating US effort to ostracise Iran, which the Trump administration has sought to vilify as the chief destabilising force in the Middle East.

The visit came two days after US National Security Adviser John Bolton said the United States was deploying the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and a bomber task force to the region because of a "credible threat by Iranian regime forces".

"We talked to them about the importance of Iraq ensuring that it's able to adequately protect Americans in their country," Mr Pompeo told reporters after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

Mr Abdul Mahdi said the US was an important strategic partner for Iraq, but stressed that Baghdad was continuing to seek a balanced relationship with all of its "friends and neighbours, including neighbouring Iran".

Mr Pompeo said the purpose of the meeting was to also let Iraqi officials know more about "the increased threat stream that we had seen" so they could effectively protect US forces. He said he expressed US support for Iraqi sovereignty, noting: "We don't want anyone interfering in their country, certainly not by attacking another nation inside of Iraq."

Asked about the decision to move the aircraft carrier and bomber task force to the region, Mr Pompeo said Washington wanted to defend its interests from the Iranian threat and ensure it had the forces necessary to accomplish that goal.

"The message that we've sent to the Iranians, I hope, puts us in a position where we can deter and the Iranians will think twice about attacking American interests," he said, noting that the US intelligence was "very specific" about "attacks that were imminent".

He said the US has urged Iraq to move quickly to bring Iranian-influenced independent militias under central government control, noting that they make Iraq "a less stable nation".

Mr Pompeo said he also raised the issue of Iraq's energy requirements with his Iraqi hosts, who have been upset at US demands that it stop relying on imported Iranian power supplies.

The Trump administration gave Iraq a waiver in March to purchase Iranian electricity without incurring US penalties, but that waiver is set to expire in June.

NYTIMES, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE