Iran fires missiles at US bases in Iraq

Iran fired a volley of missiles on Wednesday at Iraqi bases housing US and other foreign troops, the Islamic republic’s first act in its promised revenge for the US killing of a top Iranian general.

Iranian state television claimed that missile strikes on bases in Iraq killed 80 Americans, in a report citing what it called an informed Revolutionary Guards source.

Iran launched 22 missiles overnight at the Iraqi bases used by US and other US-led coalition troops, the Iraqi army said.

‘At least 80 American military (personnel) were killed in this attack,’ the state television website reported.

In addition, it said, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters and other military equipment had been severely damaged in the attack.

The Revolutionary Guards source said at least 140 targets of the US and their allies had been identified in the region and would be attacked ‘if the Americans commit any kind of mistake again’.

Launched for the first time by forces inside Iran instead of a proxy, the attack marked a new turn in the intensifying confrontation between Washington and Tehran and sent world oil prices soaring.

‘Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq,’ the Pentagon said.

‘It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel.’

The missiles targeted the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, both housing American and other foreign troops deployed as part of a US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group.

Iran’s supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state, said it was a ‘slap in the face’ for the United States but that revenge was yet to come.

The Pentagon said the facilities had been on ‘high alert’ after days of steadily mounting tension.

The office of Iraq’s premier said it had received ‘an official verbal message’ from Iran informing it that a missile attack on US forces was imminent.

The statement by Adel Abdel Mahdi’s spokesman said his office was simultaneously contacted by Washington as the missiles rained down.

‘Iraq rejects any violation of its sovereignty and attacks on its territory,’ the statement said, without specifically condemning the missile strikes.

Iraqi president Barham Saleh denounced the attack and said it rejected attempts to turn Iraq into a ‘battlefield for warring sides’.

Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbusi took a tougher line, slamming the strikes as an ‘Iranian violation of Iraqi sovereignty’, stressing Iraq should not be used to ‘settle scores’.

Iraq’s military said it sustained no casualties in 22 missile strikes, most of them hitting Ain Al-Asad.

US president Donald Trump said that initial casualty assessments indicated ‘all is well’ after Iranian missiles targeted two bases housing US troops in Iraq.

He tweeted that ‘assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!’

Trump said that a US troop withdrawal from Iraq at this stage would be the ‘worst thing’ for the country, after Baghdad’s parliament demanded the expulsion of American forces.

‘At some point we want to get out, but this isn’t the right point,’ Trump said. ‘It’s the worst thing that could happen to Iraq.’

The strikes sparked worldwide condemnation and calls for de-escalation, including from NATO, Germany, France and the UK.

France said its forces deployed in Iraq sustained no casualties while the UK was concerned about ‘reports’ of victims as British troops are stationed there.

The Norwegian military said coalition troops were warned of the attack in advance through intelligence channels.

Claiming the attack, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said it hit Ain al-Asad with dozens of missiles in response to Friday’s US drone strike in Baghdad that killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

It warned any US counter-attack would be met with an even ‘more crushing response’ and threatened to strike Israel and America’s ‘allied governments’.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a ‘slap in the face’ had been delivered to the US but hinted more could come.

‘An important incident has happened. The question of revenge is another issue,’ Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

‘Military actions in this form are not sufficient for that issue.

‘What is important is that America’s corrupt presence must come to an end in this region.’

‘We don’t retreat in the face of America,’ pledged Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, adding: ‘If they (US) are wise, they won’t take any other action at this juncture.’

Meanwhile, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seemed to indicate the missile strikes were over for now.

‘Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defence,’ Zarif said on Twitter.

He said the strikes targeted a base from which a ‘cowardly armed attack against our citizens and senior officials’ was launched.

The attack emboldened Iran’s allies in Iraq, who ramped up threats to avenge top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed with Soleimani.

Muhandis was the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network incorporated into the Iraqi state whose factions are backed by Tehran.

Paramilitary chief Qais al-Khazali — blacklisted as a ‘terrorist’ by the US — said Iraq was preparing its own response for Muhandis’s death.

‘That response will be no less than the size of the Iranian response. That is a promise,’ Khazali threatened.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net