NATO's ruling committee will meet Monday to discuss the future of the alliance's training mission in Iraq as Middle East tensions mount after US forces killed a top Iranian general.

Ambassadors from the 29 allies will gather at their Brussels headquarters at 3.00 pm (1400 GMT) with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expected to brief journalists afterwards.

US officials are due to give an update on the situation after Washington killed Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran's Middle East operations as commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport.

"The North Atlantic Council will address the situation in the region," a NATO official said.

"The secretary general decided to convene the meeting of NATO ambassadors following consultations with allies."

Stoltenberg had spoken by telephone with US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper since Friday's strike, but the killing of Soleimani surprised many of Washington's allies and triggered calls for de-escalation.

The situation has also deteriorated in Iraq, where lawmakers have called for the 5,200 US soldiers deployed there to leave.

NATO maintains a 500-strong training mission in Iraq, preparing local forces to take on Islamic State group extremists, but this would be in doubt if coalition forces pull out.

"The big issue is the future of the NATO mission in Iraq after the demand of the Iraqi parliament yesterday to remove US-led coalition and foreign forces. We have to see what we will do now," a NATO diplomat told AFP.

On Saturday, a NATO spokesman said the mission, which involves several hundred allied personnel, was continuing "but training activities are currently suspended".

Another diplomat said the alliance would have to "wait and see" how Baghdad responds in the coming days.

"From our point of view the parliament resolution is not binding. We take note of it, but have to wait what the government is going to do," the diplomat said.

"We still think that the presence of international troops in Iraq should be continued in order to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State. But we have to respect what the Iraqi government will eventually decide."

Tehran has vowed to avenge the commander, and US President Donald Trump has threatened "major retaliation" if any American targets are hit.

Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement late on Sunday urging Iran to "refrain from further violent action or proliferation" and criticising the "negative role" Tehran played in the Middle East through Soleimani's forces.

Iran was also warned not to flout the 2015 nuclear deal, which Washington pulled out of in 2018, after announcing further steps away from the beleaguered accord.

Trump's Iraq sanctions threat 'not very helpful': Germany
Berlin (AFP) Jan 6, 2020 - US President Donald Trump's threat to slap sanctions on Iraq should Baghdad expel US troops based there "is not very helpful", German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday.

"I don't think you can convince Iraq with threats, but with arguments," Maas told Deutschlandfunk radio, warning that years-long efforts to rebuild Iraq "could all be lost" if the situation escalates.

Trump earlier vowed to hit Iraq with sanctions "like they've never seen before" if US troops are forced to leave the country.

The threat came after Iraqi lawmakers voted on Sunday to request the government end an agreement with a US-led international coalition to fight the hardline Islamist group IS in the region.

Tensions have soared following the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by a US drone strike in Baghdad on Friday.

A furious Tehran has since announced a further step back from its commitments to the 2015 nuclear accord, leaving the future of the hard-fought pact in doubt.

European leaders have called for an urgent de-escalation of tensions, but Maas admitted that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had hoped for more full-throated backing from allies.

"Apparently he wasn't too happy that we didn't 100 percent support America's actions," Maas said after Pompeo spoke by phone with his German, French and British counterparts.

Maas said it was important that the European Union presented a united stance so it could play a meaningful role in helping to cool tempers.

"Our own security interests are massively affected by the fight in Iraq against international terrorism, against IS, so we have a responsibility here," he said.

"I think it's necessary that the EU foreign ministers quickly convene in Brussels to coordinate a European position."

He also said Germany, France and Britain would decide this week how to react to Iran's decision to forego the limit on enrichment it had pledged to honour in the nuclear agreement.

"We can't just accept this without responding," Maas said.

"It certainly doesn't make things easier and it could be the first step towards the end of the deal and that would be a great loss."

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Trump threatens sanctions on Iraq
Washington (AFP) Jan 6, 2020
US President Donald Trump threatened "major retaliation" Sunday if Iran avenges the killing of a key military commander and he warned of massive economic sanctions against ally Iraq if the country expels US troops based there. The twin threats came as Iran announced it was further reducing compliance with a tattered international nuclear accord, ending limitations on numbers of centrifuges used to enrich uranium. The latest blow to the accord, which was meant to ensure Iran did not develop a nuc ... read more