CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait — Facing another decision about U.S. troop levels in Iraq by spring, President Bush said Saturday it's "fine with me" if generals recommend no more reductions than those already planned to take the force posture down to about 130,000.

Traveling for the next few days among Sunni Arab-ruled states jittery about the rising influence and ambitions of Shiite-majority Iran, Bush used part of remarks here that were focused on Iraq to put Tehran on notice — again.

"Iran's role in fomenting violence has been exposed," he said as he listed successes the U.S. is helping to bring about in Iraq. "Iranian agents are in our custody, and we are learning more about how Iran has supported extremist groups with training and lethal aid."

After spending a day in Kuwait meeting with its leaders and addressing U.S. troops based here, Bush was traveling to Bahrain, an oil-refining and banking island in the Arabian Sea that is host to the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, told reporters after Bush spoke that the overall flow of weaponry from Iran into Iraq appears to be down, but attacks with "explosively formed projectiles" tied to Tehran are up by a factor of two or three in recent days. "Frankly, we are trying to determine why that might be," he said.

The roadside bombs, known as EFPs, are armor-piercing explosives that have killed hundreds of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. U.S. military officials have been saying for months that mainly Shiite Iran has been supplying EFPs to Shiite militias in Iraq, despite strong denials by Tehran.

Camp Arifjan is the largest U.S. base in Kuwait, home to about 9,000 American troops. Bush met there with Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker to get a firsthand report on the war in Iraq. The two are scheduled to give Congress another update on Iraq in March and make a recommendation about troop levels that Bush said must be made "based upon success."

"My attitude is, if he didn't want to continue the drawdown, that's fine with me, to make sure we succeed, see," the president told reporters after the hourlong briefing. "I said to the general, 'If you want to slow her down, fine. It's up to you."'

After a similar report from Petraeus and Crocker in September, Bush announced he would withdraw some troops from Iraq by July — essentially the 30,000 sent as part of a buildup ordered a year ago — but still keep the U.S. level there at about 130,000.

"The only thing I can tell you we're on track for is, we're doing what we said was going to happen," the president said.