Iran attack: US troops targeted with ballistic missiles.


Iran has carried out a ballistic missile attack on airbases housing US forces in Iraq, in retaliation for the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani.
More than a dozen missiles launched from Iran struck two air bases in Irbil and Al Asad, west of Baghdad.
It is unclear if there have been any casualties.
The initial response from Washington has been muted. President Trump tweeted that all was well and said casualties and damage were being assessed.
Two Iraqi bases housing the US and coalition troops were targeted, one at Al Asad and one in Irbil, at about 02:00 local time on Wednesday (22.30 GMT on Tuesday). It came just hours after the burial of Soleimani, who controlled Iran's proxy forces across the Middle East.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the attack was "a slap in the face" for the US and called for an end to the US presence in the region.
Echoing him, President Hassan Rouhani said the US would have its "feet cut off" in the Middle East.
Hours after the airstrikes a Ukrainian airliner crashed in Iran shortly after take-off. Ukraine's Tehran embassy initially blamed engine failure but later removed the statement.
Several airlines have suspended flights to Iran and Iraq amid the rising tension.

Is this the end of the escalation?

This is the most direct assault by Iran in the US since the seizing of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in retaliation for the death of Soleimani on Friday - killed in a missile strike outside Baghdad airport on the orders of President Trump - and warned US allies that their bases could also be targeted.
Iran's Defence Minister Amir Hatami said Iran's response to any US retaliation would be proportional to the US action.


But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the attack was self-defense and denied seeking to escalate the situation into war.

Given the importance of General Soleimani and therefore the passions that his killing aroused - Iran's military strike against US bases in Iraq was a modest response.
The attack was clearly timed to cause as few casualties as possible. Both the US and Iran - for all their rhetoric - don't need a wider conflict. So maybe a line is often drawn under this matter for now.

Is this the top of Iran's retaliation? Time will tell.

But it's hard to ascertain Iranian policy changing. it's presumably still getting to attempt to secure its regional goals, not least the departure folks forces from Iraq.
The Soleimani killing has weakened the US position there. But it had been rocket attacks from Iran's proxies - local Shia militia - against US bases that formed the prelude to the present recent crisis.
Has the US established any measure of deterrence? And if not, will Iranian-inspired attacks resume in due course?
What is the status folks troops in Iraq?
The US has around 5,000 troops in Iraq tasked with preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State group (IS) there.
President Trump said on Tuesday a US withdrawal of troops from Iraq would be the worst thing for the country.
Which bases were targeted?
Foreign Secretary condemns Iran missile strikes
His comments came within the wake of a letter, which the US military said had been sent in error, to Iraq's prime minister, which suggested that the US would be "repositioning" forces within the country. The UK ministry told the BBC: "We are urgently working to determine the facts on the bottom. Our first priority is that the security of British personnel." the united kingdom has put the Royal Navy and military helicopters on standby amid rising tensions within the Middle East, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said earlier. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would retaliate hard against any attack and said President Trump should be congratulated for acting "swiftly, boldly and resolutely" in assassinating Soleimani.


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