Iran missiles attack US bases
Tehran TV says ‘80 American terrorists killed’ in revenge for Soleimani killing
IRANIAN forces fired missiles at military bases housing US troops in Iraq yesterday in retaliation for the US killing of an Iranian general, raising the stakes in its conflict with Washington amid concern of a wider war in the Middle East.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing a gathering of Iranians chanting “Death to America”, said the attacks were a “slap on the face” of the US and said US troops should leave the region.
Tehran’s foreign minister said Iran took “proportionate measures” in self-defence and did not seek to escalate the confrontation.
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump blamed former president Barack Obama on for supplying Iran with the money to purchase missiles. “The missiles fired at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration,” he said, citing $150 billion in frozen assets that the previous president released and $1.5bn flown by the US to Tehran. “As long as I am president of the US, Iran will never be be allowed have a nuclear weapon,”he said. “Our missiles are big, powerful, accurate, lethal and fast.”
“Under construction are many hypersonic missiles,” he warned.
Trump blasted Tehran’s ‘destructive and destabilising behaviour” and said the days of Western patience “are over”. And he urged European nations to make ‘a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place’ and allows Iran to explore its ‘untapped potential’ as a mainstream trading partner. “We want you to have a future, and a great future,” he told Iran’s people, claiming its military “appears to be standing down”.
His remarks came after Tehran’s armies rained missiles down on Iraqi military installations where American troops have been stationed for more than 16 years. “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime,” the president said.
Iranian state-run television claimed at least 20 U.S. servicemen and women were killed. US officials believe the missiles were deliberately fired into unpopulated areas, in what a senior official called a “heads-up bombing”.
Trump at the weekend threatened to target 52 Iranian sites if Iran retaliated for Soleimani’s killing. Iranian state television said Iran had fired 15 ballistic missiles from its territory at US targets in its neighbour Iraq early yesterday. The Pentagon said al-Asad air base and another facility in Erbil were targeted.
Iranian state television said 80 “American terrorists” had been killed and US helicopters and military equipment damaged. It did not say how it obtained that information.
Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland said none of their troops in Iraq were hurt. Britain condemned the Iranian action and said Tehran “should not repeat these reckless and dangerous attacks”.
Iraq said its forces did not suffer casualties. The UN mission in Iraq called for restraint, saying: “Iraq should not pay the price for external rivalries.”
More than 5000 US troops remain in Iraq along with the other foreign forces in a coalition that has trained and backed Iraqis against the threat of Islamic State militants. In Tehran, Khamenei said: “Military action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending the corrupting presence of America in the region,” renewing Tehran’s long-standing demand for Washington to withdraw its forces.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the strikes “concluded” Tehran’s response to the killing of Soleimani, who had been responsible for building up Iran’s network of proxy armies across the Middle East. He was buried in his hometown Kerman yesterday after days of national mourning. An official in the supreme leader’s office said the missile attacks were the “weakest” of several retaliation scenarios. It quoted another source saying Iran had lined up 100 other potential targets.
Iran is likely to want to avoid any conventional military conflict with superior US forces, other analysts say. In the past, it had focused on sabotage or other military action via proxies.
US said Soleimani was killed because forces under his command planned attacks on US targets. They have not provided evidence.