Iran fires at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops
At least 56 die in stampede during Soleimani funeral
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran struck back at the United States for the killing of a top Iranian general early today, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops in a major escalation that brought the two longtime foes closer to war.
Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard Maj-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike near Baghdad prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying. A U.S. official said there were no immediate reports of American casualties, though buildings were still being searched.
‘All is well!’ U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted shortly after the missile attacks, adding: ‘So far, so good’ regarding casualties.
Soleimani’s killing and the strikes by Iran came as tensions have risen steadily across the Middle East after Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. They also marked the first time in recent years that Washington and Tehran have attacked each other directly rather than through proxies. It raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two enemies, which have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But in a tweet shortly after the missile launches, Iran’s foreign minister called a ballistic missile attack a “proportionate measures in self-defence” and said it was not seeking to escalate the situation, but would defend itself against any aggression.
Iran initially announced only one strike, but U.S. officials confirmed both. U.S. defence officials were at the White House, likely to discuss options with Trump, who launched the strike on Soleimani while facing an upcoming impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack against the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s western Anbar province. The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s staterun IRNA news agency.
“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” the Guard said. It also threatened Israel.
After the strikes, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator posted a picture of the Islamic Republic’s flag on Twitter, appearing to mimic Trump who had posted an American flag following the killing of Soleimani and others Friday in a drone strike in Baghdad.
Ain al-Asad air base was first used by American forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and later saw American troops stationed there amid the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. It houses about 1,500 U.S. and coalition forces.
Two Iraqi security officials said at least one of the missiles appeared to have struck a plane at the base, igniting a fire. It was not immediately clear whether it was an Iraqi or U.S. jet. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attacks, according to the officials.
About 70 Norwegian troops also were on the air base, but no injuries were reported, Brynjar Stordal, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Armed Forces said.
Trump visited the sprawling Ain al-Asad air base, about 60 kilometres west of Baghdad, in December, making his first presidential visit to troops in the region. He did not meet any Iraqi officials at the time, and his visit inflamed sensitivities about the continued presence of U.S. forces in Iraq. Vice-President Mike Pence also has visited the base.
Iranian state TV said the Guard’s aerospace division that controls Iran’s missile program launched the attack, which, it said, was part of an operation dubbed “Martyr Soleimani.” Iran said it would release more information later.
The U.S. also acknowledged another missile attack on a base in Irbil in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region.
“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,” said Jonathan Hoffman, an assistant to the U.S. defence secretary.
Wednesday’s revenge attack happened a few hours after crowds in Iran mourned Soleimani at his funeral. It also came the U.S. continued to reinforce its own positions in the region and warned of an unspecified threat to shipping from Iran in the region’s waterways, crucial routes for global energy supplies. U.S. embassies and consulates from Asia to Africa and Europe issued security alerts for Americans. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration also warned of a “potential for miscalculation or mis-identification” for civilian aircraft in the Persian Gulf amid in an emergency flight restriction.
A stampede broke out Tuesday at Soleimani’s funeral. At least 56 people died and more than 200 injured as thousands thronged the procession, Iranian news reports said. Shortly after Iran’s missile launches, Soleimani’s shroud-wrapped remains were lowered into the ground as mourners wailed at the grave site.
Tuesday’s deadly stampede took place in Soleimani’s hometown of Kerman as his coffin was being borne through the city in southeastern Iran, said Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency medical services.
There was no information about what set off the crush in the packed streets, and online videos showed only its aftermath — people lying apparently lifeless, their faces covered by clothing, emergency crews performing CPR on the fallen, and onlookers wailing and crying out to God.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” Koulivand said.
Soleimani’s burial was delayed, with no new time given, because of concerns about the huge crowd at the cemetery, the semi-official ISNA news agency said.
A procession in Tehran on Monday drew more than one million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main avenues and side streets in Tehran. Such mass crowds can prove dangerous. A smaller stampede at the 1989 funeral for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least eight people and injured hundreds.
Hossein Salami, Soleimani’s successor as leader of the Revolutionary Guard, addressed a crowd of supporters gathered at the coffin in a central square in Kernan. He vowed to avenge Soleimani, who was killed Friday near Baghdad’s airport.
“We tell our enemies that we will retaliate, but if they take another action we will set ablaze the places that they like and are passionate about,” Salami said.
“Death to Israel,” the crowd shouted in response, referring to one of Iran’s longtime regional foes.
Salami praised Soleimani’s work, describing him as essential to backing Palestinian groups, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria. As a martyr, Soleimani represented an even greater threat to Iran’s enemies, Salami said.
Soleimani will ultimately be laid to rest between the graves of Enayatollah Talebizadeh and Mohammad Hossein Yousef Elahi, two former Guard comrades killed in Iran’s 1980s war with Iraq. They died in Operation Dawn 8, in which Soleimani also took part. It was a 1986 amphibious assault that cut Iraq off from the Persian Gulf and led to the end of the war that killed one million.
Funeral processions in major cities over three days have been an unprecedented honour for Soleimani, seen by Iranians as a national hero for his work leading the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force.
The U.S. blames him for killing U.S. troops in Iraq and accused him of plotting new attacks just before he was killed. Soleimani also led forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country’s civil war, and served as the point man for Iranian proxies in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. Russian President Vladimir Putin met Assad in Syria on Tuesday amid the tensions between Washington and Tehran.