“The message is, we don’t seek war with you. You should not seek war with us. And we would like to de-escalate to a lower level of tensions, if that’s possible,” McKenzie told reporters after visiting the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship operating in the northern Red Sea.

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The general’s public remarks were his first since an American airstrike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3. The U.S. government viewed Soleimani, who was the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, as the mastermind of years of violence against American personnel.

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After that attack, Tehran launched ballistic missiles at two sites populated by American soldiers in Iraq, the first time Iran has conducted an overt military assault on a base housing U.S. troops.

Speaking earlier in the day after touching down on board the Bataan, McKenzie told troops they may be asked to remain in the region for an extended period. The Bataan and its sister ships, carrying troops of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, were diverted this month from a scheduled mission in the U.S. European Command zone and made a hasty passage to the Middle East.

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“We’re in a very delicate time in the Central Command theater as a result of the events of the last couple of weeks,” McKenzie said. “What we want to do is we want to convince the Iranians that now is not a good time to do something goofy.”

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The Pentagon has increased its overall Middle East footprint by more than 20,000 troops since last spring amid a number of events blamed on Iran or its proxies, including the use of mines to strike commercial ships, an attack on Saudi oil facilities, the downing of an American surveillance drone and several rocket attacks on bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops, including one that killed a U.S. contractor on Dec. 27. McKenzie did not say how long the U.S. military, which is looking to reorient its force toward challenges from China and Russia, would maintain its enhanced presence in the Middle East.

But the targeting of Soleimani, a peerless figure in Iran’s security establishment who was synonymous with the country’s support for armed proxy groups across the region, generated shock waves among allies and adversaries alike who have voiced fears about a destabilizing new conflict.

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Iranian leaders have characterized the strike as an act of war, and the new Quds Force leader has vowed a “manly” response.

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The retaliatory actions come as the Trump administration continues its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, applying new sanctions and promising additional measures if Iran should take steps to produce a nuclear weapon.

On Thursday, the Treasury Department issued sanctions against four international petrochemical and oil companies whose exports have provided revenue that the United States says Iran uses to fund its military activities and militias in the region.

The U.S. action targeted companies based in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Dubai. Treasury officials said the firms paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the National Iranian Oil Co. to purchase its products.

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In 2018, President Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, prompting Tehran to take steps that European countries now say represent a violation of the 2015 agreement.

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The heightened tensions occur against a backdrop of popular protests across Iran linked to economic conditions and, more recently, the government’s apparent accidental shoot-down of a passenger jet hours after its strikes against Americans in Iraq.

McKenzie said Iran’s Jan. 8 missile strike was an important departure for Tehran following what U.S. officials describe as a year-long covert campaign to strike the United States via proxies, primarily in Iraq.

“That’s something that is going to be very significant,” he said. “Having said that, they have shown signs of wanting to ­de-escalate, of not wanting to continue the conflict, and we certainly welcome that, because the last thing we want to do is have a war with Iran.”

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The attack did not result in any American deaths, but a number of service members who suffered symptoms believed to be associated with traumatic brain injury are being treated and observed, defense officials have said.

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The Pentagon says Iranian-linked militia attacks killed at least 500 troops following the 2003 Iraq invasion. But those militias fought on the same side as the United States and its allies — albeit at a distance — against the Islamic State in Iraq beginning in 2014.

The Soleimani strike has also strained U.S. relations with Iraq, which is pulled between its two chief allies at a moment when the government is facing its own wave of popular protests.

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McKenzie said the United States would seek to be “coolheaded” amid the current crisis, hoping Iran would do the same, but would respond forcefully if needed.

“The ball is certainly in their court to a certain degree, and they know that we have the capability to defend ourselves and to inflict significant pain on them now should they choose to go that route.”