Iran strikes back at US with missile attack at bases in Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran struck back at the United States for the killing of a top Iranian general early Wednesday (Tuesday night Jamaica time) firing a series of ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops in a major escalation that brought the two longtime foes closer to war.

Iranian state TV said it was in revenge for the U.S. killing of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike near Baghdad prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying.

A U.S. official said there were no immediate reports of American casualties, though buildings were still being searched.

Soleimani’s killing and the strikes by Iran came as tensions have been rising steadily across the Mideast after President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

They also marked the first time in recent years that Washington and Tehran have attacked each other directly rather than through proxies in the region.

It raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two enemies, which have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

But in a tweet shortly after the missile launches, Iran’s foreign minister called a ballistic missile attack a “proportionate measures in self-defense” and said it was not seeking to escalate the situation but would defend itself against any aggression.

Iran initially announced only one strike, but U.S. officials confirmed both. U.S. defense officials were at the White House, likely to discuss options with Trump, who launched the strike on Soleimani while facing an upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack against the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” The Guard said.

It also threatened Israel.

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