US To Boost Efforts To Counter Iran's 'Malign Influence'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has kickstarted a visit to the Middle East aimed at ramping up regional efforts to put pressure on Iran and allay allies fears over Washington's possible withdrawal of troops from Syria.

Speaking on Tuesday in the Jordanian capital, Amman, Pompeo said the US was "redoubling" its diplomatic and commercial efforts to counter the Islamic Republic's "malign influence" throughout the region.

He added that any US troop pullout from Syria would not undermine the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

"The most significant threats to the region are Daesh and the Islamic revolution," Pompeo told reporters at a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, referring to ISIL and Iran.

Sustaining a regional coalition to counter Iran, branded by Washington as a sponsor of "terrorism" and the main enemy of US allies Saudi Arabia and Israel, is a major focus of Pompeo's tour of eight Arab capitals in as many days.

His appearence in pro-Western Jordan, which coincided with a visit by US National Security Adviser John Bolton to Turkey, will be followed by visits to Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif swiftly hit back at the latest US broadsides, however, tweeting that the "pure obsession with Iran is more and more like the behaviour of persistently failing psychotic stalkers".