Major General Ghika speaks as a military officer in the US-led Coalition focused on the fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

His comments are based on the day-to-day military operations and his sole focus is the enduring defeat of Daesh.

He made clear in his Pentagon briefing that 'there are a range of threats to American and coalition forces in this part of the world. There always have been, that is why we have a very robust range of force protection measures'.

The UK has long been clear about our concerns over Iran's destabilising behaviour in the region