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| What is said to be missiles are seen in the night sky, after Iran fired missiles on at least two Iraqi air bases hosting U.S.-led coalition forces, in this still image taken from a video shot at an unknown location on January 8, 2020. Iran Press |
Iranian forces fired missiles at military bases housing US troops in Iraq on Wednesday 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.
Iranโs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing a gathering of Iranians chanting โDeath to Americaโ, said the attacks were a โslap on the faceโ of the United States and said US troops should leave the region.
Tehranโs foreign minister said Iran took โproportionate measuresโ in self-defence and did not seek an escalation.
The next move appeared to lie with Washington.
US President Donald Trump, who ordered the drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday, gave an initial response on Twitter: โAll is well!โ.
Trump said casualties and damage from the missile attacks were being assessed. The White House said the president would make a statement at 11am (1600 GMT).
US and European government sources they believed Iran had deliberately sought to avoid US military casualties in its missile strikes to prevent an escalation.
Earlier on Wednesday, an Iranian army spokesman had denied โforeign media reportsโ suggesting there had been some kind of coordination between Iran and the United States before the attack to allow bases to be evacuated, Fars news agency said.
Trump conferred with advisers at the White House on Wednesday. Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were expected to be with him when he makes the statement.
The US president, who was impeached last month and faces an election this year, at the weekend threatened to target 52 Iranian sites if Iran retaliated for Soleimaniโs killing.
TARGETS
Iranian state television said Iran had fired 15 ballistic missiles from its territory at U.S. targets in its neighbour Iraq early on Wednesday. The Pentagon said al-Asad air base and another facility in Erbil were targeted.
The United States did not announce any casualties.
Iranian state television said 80 โAmerican terroristsโ 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, which also has personnel in Iraq, condemned the Iranian action and said Tehran โshould not repeat these reckless and dangerous attacksโ.
Iraq said its forces did not suffer casualties. The UN mission in Iraq called for restraint, saying: โIraq should not pay the price for external rivalries.โ
More than 5,000 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.
โAs 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,โ Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said.
In Tehran, Khamenei said in a televised speech: โMilitary action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending the corrupting presence of America in the region,โ renewing Tehranโs long-standing demand for Washington to withdraw its forces.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the strikes โconcludedโ Tehranโs response to the killing of Soleimani, who had been responsible for building up Iranโs network of proxy armies across the Middle East. He was buried in his hometown Kerman on Monday after days of national mourning.
โWe do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression,โ he wrote on Twitter.
Iranian television reported an official in the supreme leaderโs office as saying the missile attacks were the โweakestโ of several retaliation scenarios. It quoted another source saying Iran had lined up 100 other potential targets.
State media showed footage of what it said were Iranโs missiles being fired into the night sky. In the background, voices shouted โGod is greatestโ. It also showed purported images of the blasts where they struck. It was not possible to verify the imagesโ authenticity.
WAY OUT?
Oil prices, which jumped in frenzied early trading after the missile attack, slipped later on as alarm faded..
Analysts said market tension could ease as long as oil production facilities remain unaffected.
Iran is likely to want to avoid any conventional military conflict with superior US forces, experts say. In the past, it has focussed on asymmetric strikes, such as sabotage or other military action via proxies, they say.
US officials said Soleimani was killed because forces under his command planned attacks on US targets. 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. A stampede at his funeral on Tuesday killed at least 56 people.
After the Iranian missile attack, state television showed footage of the burial, with hundreds of people chanting โGod is greatestโ when the strikes were announced over loudspeakers.
โHis revenge was taken and now he can rest in peace,โ Iranian television said.
Friction between Iran and the United States rose after Trump withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama, and reimposed sanctions on Tehran slashing its vital oil exports.
Khamenei, in his speech on Wednesday, ruled out any resumption of talks with Washington on the 2015 nuclear pact.
Trumpโs US political rivals have challenged his decision to order Soleimaniโs killing and questioned its timing in a US election year.
โWe 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,โ US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter.
REUTERS
