IRAN STRIKES BACK
MISSILE ATTACK ON U. S. FORCES IN IRAQ.
• Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday evening, marking the most significant Iranian attack in the growing conflict between Iran and the United States.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the barrage, which the Pentagon said was launched from Iran and targeted the Ayn al-asad base in western Iraq and another facility in Erbil. It wasn’t immediately clear whether there were casualties or major damage.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said President Donald Trump was “monitoring the situation closely.”
The strike comes as U. S. officials defended Trump’s decision to kill Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in an airstrike in Baghdad last week.
Iranian leaders stepped up calls Tuesday for revenge against the United States. Earlier in the day Iranian authorities were forced to suspend burial proceedings for Soleimani in his hometown of Kerman after a stampede killed dozens of mourners.
The attack was launched about 1: 30 a. m. local time, the Pentagon said.
“It is clear these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U. S. military and coalition personnel,” the statement said.
“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend U. S. personnel, partners, and allies in the region,” the statement said.
One U. S. military official, reached for comment Tuesday evening, said U. S. troops were still assessing what happened.
“They’re still in bunker mode,” the official said.
In using ballistic missiles, Iran relied on what the Pentagon considers one of its three core capabilities.
In a briefing held in November, a senior defence analyst focused on Iran told reporters at the Pentagon that the missiles constituted a primary component of Tehran’s strategic deterrent.
“Lacking a modern air force, Iran has embraced ballistic missiles as a longrange strike capability to dissuade its adversaries from attacking Iran,” said the official, Christian Saunders.
“Iran also has the largest missile force in the Middle East, with substantial inventory of close- range ballistic missiles, short- range ballistic missiles and mediumrange ballistic missiles that can strike targets throughout the region as far as 2,000 kilometres away.”
The Pentagon assessed that Iran will deploy an increasing number of “more accurate and lethal ballistic missiles,” and continue to improve its existing missile inventory while also fielding new land- attack cruise missiles.
The base, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, houses some of the 5,000 American troops stationed in Iraq to help train local forces to fight the Islamic State militants.
Trump on Sunday called it “extraordinarily expensive,” threatening the Iraqi government with sanctions if the United States is told to withdraw all of its troops from Iraq and the government in Baghdad does not pay for it.
It was not immediately clear where on the base the rockets landed or if anyone was harmed.
It would appear to mark one of the most aggressive attacks on U. S. forces in Iraq since the Iranian- backed militia Kataib Hezbollah launched 31 rockets at a base near Kirkuk on Dec. 27, killing a contractor and wounding several U. S. troops.
The U. S . military launched airstrikes on targets affiliated with Iranian- backed forces two days later.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., was discussing her plan for articles of impeachment against Trump when she was handed a note about the attack. She immediately told members to start praying.