Iran strikes US airbase in Iraq with surface to surface missiles

[essentialsaltes]

Iran has just fired multiple missiles at US military targets in Iraq, two US officials told me, likely in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s decision last week to kill Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s most elite military and intelligence force.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a part of Iran’s military in which Suleimani was a leading figure, claimed responsibility for the attack. For days, Iranian officials signaled that they would strike US military targets in response to Soleimani’s killing. It’s possible this is that attack.

The White House has already put out a statement about the attack saying that Trump “is monitoring the situation.” Two US officials — one in the White House and one in the Pentagon — told me that missiles were launched at Al Asad airbase.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Top Iranian official tweets image of Iranian flag following attack
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who is also a politician and representative of the Supreme Leader, tweeted an image of the Iranian flag following reports of attacks on al-Asad air base.


Previously, President Trump tweeted an image of an American flag late Thursday amid reports that an airstrike had killed a top Iranian general in Iraq.

 

[essentialsaltes]

The Pentagon confirmed that Iran launched missiles at US military and coalition forces in Iraq.

The Pentagon said Iran fired more than a dozen missiles.

"It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil," Jonathan Hoffman, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said in a statement.

"We are working on initial battle damage assessments," he added.

 

[essentialsaltes]

From the CNN updated feed:

There are casualties among the Iraqis at Ain al-Asad airbase following the attack early Wednesday local time, an Iraqi security source tells CNN.

At this stage, it is unknown whether those causalities are wounded or killed; also unknown are the numbers of casualties.

 

[essentialsaltes]

A US official tells CNN that are no reports of US casualties at this time but an assessment is still underway.

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As President Trump confers with his top advisers tonight at the White House, aides are making urgent preparations at this hour for him to address the nation after Iran fired missiles at US forces in Iraq.

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Iran threatens to attack inside America if US responds to missile attacks

In its Telegram channel, Iranian Revolutionary Guard says the “Pentagon reports that the US will respond to Iran’s attacks.”

IRGC then says in a footnote, “This time we will respond to you in America”

 

[Ana the Ist]

A US official tells CNN that are no reports of US casualties at this time but an assessment is still underway.

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As President Trump confers with his top advisers tonight at the White House, aides are making urgent preparations at this hour for him to address the nation after Iran fired missiles at US forces in Iraq.

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Iran threatens to attack inside America if US responds to missile attacks

In its Telegram channel, Iranian Revolutionary Guard says the “Pentagon reports that the US will respond to Iran’s attacks.”

IRGC then says in a footnote, “This time we will respond to you in America”

They have to know a response is coming.

 

[essentialsaltes]

• No casualties: US and Iraqi sources said there were no known casualties as a result of the strikes.
• Trump says "All is well!": US President Donald Trump has yet to address the nation Wednesday morning US time, but on Twitter he said that "all is well!"

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All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

 

[Chrystal-J]

• No casualties: US and Iraqi sources said there were no known casualties as a result of the strikes.
• Trump says "All is well!": US President Donald Trump has yet to address the nation Wednesday morning US time, but on Twitter he said that "all is well!"

---

All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

The unnerving part: We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!

 

[usexpat97]

The unnerving part: We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!

Oh, so THAT's why Trump ignored Iraq's order for US troops to leave their own country!

 

[rambot]

There is no way that Russia and Putin benefit from an Iran US conflict.

 

[essentialsaltes]

There is no way that Russia and Putin benefit from an Iran US conflict.

Russia is neither Iran or the US.

 

[Ana the Ist]

• No casualties: US and Iraqi sources said there were no known casualties as a result of the strikes.
• Trump says "All is well!": US President Donald Trump has yet to address the nation Wednesday morning US time, but on Twitter he said that "all is well!"

---

All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

It looks like Iran is reporting that they killed 80.

I think perhaps if that's what they'd like to believe....maybe we should let them. They might call it quits, and go back to the drawing board.

 

[TLK Valentine]

They have to know a response is coming.

"They" as in the Iranians, or "they" as in our administration?

Al-Asad was the base Donald visited on Christmas 2018 -- his first presidential visit to a combat zone
Might be that the point wasn't to inflict casualties, but to send a message.

In any case, we got Soleimani; they got to flip us the middle finger in response. Maybe we'll be lucky and that'll be the end of it.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Looks like Iran alerted Iraq ahead of time, and Iraq alerted the US, so people could get to safety. There seems to be some suggestion that the targets were chosen to avoid the possibility of killing any Americans. Iran seems to be trying to walk a fine line: projecting power in the face of a deadly insult while avoiding the escalation that killing Americans would provoke. At least someone has a well-thought out foreign/military policy.

 

[Nithavela]

Looks like Iran alerted Iraq ahead of time, and Iraq alerted the US, so people could get to safety. There seems to be some suggestion that the targets were chosen to avoid the possibility of killing any Americans. Iran seems to be trying to walk a fine line: projecting power in the face of a deadly insult while avoiding the escalation that killing Americans would provoke. At least someone has a well-thought out foreign/military policy.

Too bad it will fall on tone-deaf ears.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Too bad it will fall on tone-deaf ears.

I don't know -- Donald's speech this morning sounded like he was standing down... seems like cooler heads prevailed.

 

[Nithavela]

I don't know -- Donald's speech this morning sounded like he was standing down... seems like cooler heads prevailed.

Because Trump always consistently does what he announces.

 

[Ironhold]

I don't know -- Donald's speech this morning sounded like he was standing down... seems like cooler heads prevailed.

Given what's been happening, the Iraqi parliament passed a non-binding resolution asking us to leave the country.

This could therefore have been some 4-D chess on Trump's part trying to find a way to justify scaling down the US presence in Iraq or even withdrawing it entirely without losing face; we're not running, they asked us to leave.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Looks like Iran alerted Iraq ahead of time, and Iraq alerted the US, so people could get to safety. There seems to be some suggestion that the targets were chosen to avoid the possibility of killing any Americans. Iran seems to be trying to walk a fine line: projecting power in the face of a deadly insult while avoiding the escalation that killing Americans would provoke. At least someone has a well-thought out foreign/military policy.

You're kidding, right?

They reported 80 dead. They make efforts to control what their people see and hear....but it doesn't work out that well. People use the internet to talk to people in other countries....to find out what their own news is censoring or what they aren't allowed to read.

The Iranian regime has enjoyed a boost in popularity from this....but they'll lose it once their own people learn they lied about "getting revenge". I think this would have been handled differently if Soleimani were alive. They don't seem to know what to do without him.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Given what's been happening, the Iraqi parliament passed a non-binding resolution asking us to leave the country.

This could therefore have been some 4-D chess on Trump's part trying to find a way to justify scaling down the US presence in Iraq or even withdrawing it entirely without losing face; we're not running, they asked us to leave.

Getting booted out doesn't seem like a big improvement... but Donald would call it "winning," and it would be treasonous to argue.