Iran fires ballistic missiles at US bases in Iraq

TEHRAN: In the early hours of Wednesday, Iran said it conducted a missile attack on US led forces in Iraq in revenge for the US drone strike against an Iranian commander whose death sparked concerns of a wider war in the Middle East.

More than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iranian territories were fired on two Iraqi military bases hosting the U.S  led coalition forces at about 1:30 a.m. local time, the U.S. military said.

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According to a state television report, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps stated the missiles were fired in retaliation for Qasem Soleimani’s killing last week.

After Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq, the Pentagon said it was still working on initial battle damage assessments.

The Pentagon said, “It’s clear that these missiles were fired from Iran, attacking at least two Iraqi military installations in Al-Assad and Irbil hosting U.S. forces and coalition troops.”

There were no initial reports of casualties, but after days of steadily increasing uncertainty and exchanges of war threats, the Pentagon said it was ready to tackle such threats.

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While on the other hand, Iranian foreign minister Jawad Zarif in a tweet said, “Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched. We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.

We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 8, 2020