Baghdad/Washington - Iran launched missiles
at US-led forces in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing last
week stoked fears of a new Middle East war.
Iranian state television said Iran had fired 15 missiles at US targets in Iraq early on Wednesday. The US military said
at least two Iraqi facilities hosting US-led coalition
personnel were targeted at about 1:30 a.m. Iraq time (2230 GMT
on Tuesday). Iraq said 22 missiles were fired.
Iranian officials said Tehran did not want a war and its
strikes "concluded" its response to Friday's killing of Qassem
Soleimani, a powerful general whose burial in Iran after days of
mourning was completed around the same time as Iran's missile
launches. Iranian state television showed mourners celebrating
the attack.
US President Donald Trump said in a tweet that an
assessment of casualties and damage from the strikes was under
way and that he would make a statement on Wednesday morning.
"All is well!" Trump, who visited one of the targeted sites
in Iraq, Ain al-Asad air base, in December 2018, said on
Twitter.
All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2020
One source said early indications were of no US casualties, while other US officials declined to comment.
Iranian state television said 80 "American terrorists" had
been killed and US helicopters and military equipment damaged.
It did not provide evidence of how it obtained that information.
Germany, Denmark and Norway said none of their troops in
Iraq were killed or injured. Iraq also said there were no
casualties in its forces.
Iran, which has long said US forces should leave the
Middle East, told Washington after the attacks to withdraw its
troops to prevent more deaths and warned US allies including
Israel not to allow attacks from their territories.
Iranian television reported an official in Supreme Leader
Ali Khameni's office as saying the missile attacks were the
"weakest" of several retaliation scenarios. It quoted another
source saying Iran had lined up 100 other potential targets.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was due to speak later on
Wednesday, state television reported.
Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the bases targeted
were al-Asad air base and another facility in Erbil, Iraq.
"As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take
all necessary measures to protect and defend US personnel,
partners, and allies in the region," Hoffman said.
Hours earlier on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper
said the United States should anticipate a response from Iran
for the killing of Soleimani, commander of Iran's elite Quds
Force, a unit of the Revolutionary Guards.
"I think we should expect that they will retaliate in some
way, shape or form," he told a briefing at the Pentagon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran
"took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under
Article 51 of the U.N. Charter".
"We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves
against any aggression," he wrote in a post on Twitter.
If the US military was spared casualties and Iran takes no
further measures to retaliate for Soleimani's killing, there
might be an opportunity for Washington and Tehran to seek a way
out to their increasingly violent confrontation.
Asian stock markets, which had been roiled by the attack,
pared some of their losses after the tweets from Trump and
Zarif. US crude prices also retreated after surging
almost 5% on worries any conflict could cut oil supplies.
The oil minister of the United Arab Emirates, a member of
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said the
latest events should not be exaggerated. He said there was no
global crude shortage and OPEC would respond to any need.
AIRLINES BANNED FROM AIRSPACE
The US Federal Aviation Administration said it would ban
US airlines from operating in the airspace over Iraq, Iran,
the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Other airlines also issued
warnings about flying over the region.
In an apparently unrelated incident, a Ukrainian airliner
with more than 160 people on board crashed in Iran on Wednesday,
killing all those on board, due to technical problems soon after
taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.
Democrats in the US Congress and some of the party's
presidential contenders warned about the escalating conflict.
"We must ensure the safety of our service members, including
ending needless provocations from the Administration and
demanding that Iran cease its violence. America & world cannot
afford war," US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi
said on Twitter.
Soleimani, a pivotal figure in orchestrating Iran's campaign
to drive US forces out of Iraq, was responsible for building
up its network of proxy armies across the Middle East.
He was a national hero to many Iranians but viewed as a
villain by Western governments opposed to Iran's arc of
influence running across the Levant and into the Gulf region.
US officials have said Soleimani was killed because of
intelligence indicating forces under his command planned attacks
on US targets in the region. But they have not provided
evidence.
Before Soleimani was buried his body was taken on a tour of
cities in Iraq and Iran, drawing huge crowds, often chanting
"Death to America". His burial on Tuesday was delayed after a
stampede that killed at least 56 people, Fars news agency
reported.
An hour after the Iranian missile attack, its state
television showed footage of Soleimani's burial, where a
gathering of hundreds of people started chanting "God is
greatest" when the strikes were announced over loudspeakers.
"His revenge was taken and now he can rest in peace," the
television said.
The missiles were launched on Wednesday at the same time of
the day that he was killed on Friday. He was buried in the
"martyrs section" of a cemetery in his hometown of Kerman.
More than 5,000 US troops remain in Iraq along with other
foreign forces as part of a coalition that has trained and
backed Iraqi forces against the threat of Islamic State
militants.
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