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President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Angela Merkel have shared their views on dealing with the conflict in Libya, on preserving the Iran nuclear deal and on how to finish Nord Stream pipeline in face of US sanctions.

Speaking to journalists in Moscow following her meeting with Putin, Merkel said that "everything must be done to keep the JCPOA going" and vowed to use "all the diplomatic tools to help this agreement. It is not perfect but it is still an agreement and it involves responsibilities for all the parties involved. And we want to keep it."

Putin also described the deal as "tremendously important" and said that both Moscow and Berlin agree that all parties need to "come back to the deal. After the US refused to abide by the agreement, Iran announced suspension of its obligations as well. I would like to underscore that these obligations were voluntarily embraced by Iran. Iran is ready to come back to full compliance with the JPCOA."

Putin further expressed hope that a special-purpose vehicle called INSTEX Europe, created to facilitate trade with Iran in circumvention of US sanctions, would soon "be up and running" and that European nations "would deliver on their promise to create an independent mechanism free of the dollar influence."

European companies have been in no rush to trade with Iran, out of fear of losing the American market as a result of possible sanctions.

The Associated Press errs when it says that the move was "stoked by the American drone strike on Jan. 3 that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani". The move was stoked five days earlier when the U.S. killed 31 Iraqi security forces near the Syrian border despite the demands by the Iraqi prime minister and president not to do so. It was further stoked when the U.S. assassinated Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes, the deputy commander of the Popular Militia Forces and a national hero in Iraq.

The State Department issued a rather aggressive response to Abdul-Mahdi's request:

America is a force for good in the Middle East. Our military presence in Iraq is to continue the fight against ISIS and as the Secretary has said, we are committed to protecting Americans, Iraqis, and our coalition partners. We have been unambiguous regarding how crucial our D-ISIS mission is in Iraq. At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East. Today, a NATO delegation is at the State Department to discuss increasing NATO's role in Iraq, in line with the President's desire for burden sharing in all of our collective defense efforts. There does, however, need to be a conversation between the U.S. and Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial, economic, and diplomatic partnership. We want to be a friend and partner to a sovereign, prosperous, and stable Iraq.

Shorter Pompeo: "Our troops will stay and you better do what we say."

The U.S. will need to pay better Iraqi 'activists' if it wants them to demand what Donald Trump wishes.

As the Iraqi Prime Minister explained: "After my return from China, Trump called me and asked me to cancel the agreement, so I still refused, and he threatened me with massive demonstrations that would topple me. Indeed, the demonstrations started and then Trump called, threatening to escalate in the event I did not cooperate and do as he asked..."

Author, journalist and anti-war activist Mazda Majidi and Dan Kovalik...joined Radio Sputnik's Loud and Clear discussing Iraq's recent demands and predictions of what's to come in the area.

"The US believes it has dominion over the entire globe," Kovalik told the hosts, agreeing with Majidi's comments on Washington's disrespect toward Baghdad's sovereignty. "And that's just how it justifies alleged acts of self-defense, even when they happen halfway around the world."

"What justification is going to be given to the American people for American troops dying in a country that doesn't want us anymore?" Kovalik asked.

"Even though in the US media we always hear, 'Oh, they're clients of Iran; they're proxies of Iran,' they're independent forces," he argued, "and they have just finished years of a spirited fight against [Daesh] ... and it certainly wasn't Trump or US forces that were the main factors that pushed out [Daesh]."

• Pompeo: I lied about Soleimani 'imminent attacks'
• Pompeo: US had no info on date, nor place of possible attack allegedly planned by Soleimani
• Evidence? What evidence? Pompeo shows no proof of 'imminent' Soleimani attacks - because he's lying