Iran rockets hit U.S.-host bases

Regime says attacks revenge for general

An Iranian lawmaker holds a portrait of slain Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an open session of parliament Tuesday in Tehran during debate on a bill declaring U.S. military leaders as terrorists. The measure was approved. More photos at arkansasonline.com/18iran/.
(AP/Vahid Salemi)
An Iranian lawmaker holds a portrait of slain Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an open session of parliament Tuesday in Tehran during debate on a bill declaring U.S. military leaders as terrorists. The measure was approved. More photos at arkansasonline.com/18iran/. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

WASHINGTON -- Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday evening, marking the most significant Iranian attack in the growing conflict between Iran and the United States.

Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, which houses some American troops, was hit by at least six rockets, according to a U.S. defense official familiar with the situation.

Late Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted: "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."

Earlier, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said officials were aware of reports of attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, and added that Trump was "monitoring the situation closely."

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

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted early today, "We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression."

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U.S. officials have defended Trump's decision to kill Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force. Soleimani was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. in 2005, and the Quds Force was designated as a terrorist organization in 2007.

Iranian leaders stepped up calls Tuesday for revenge against the United States. The calls for retaliation came as Iranian authorities prepared to bury Soleimani in his hometown of Kerman, a southeastern city. Early Tuesday, authorities were forced to suspend the burial proceedings after a stampede killed dozens of mourners.

The attack happened about 5:30 p.m. Washington time, the Pentagon said.

"It is clear these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel," the statement said. Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq and at least one facility in Irbil were targeted.

"As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend U.S. personnel, partners, and allies in the region," the statement said. "Due to the dynamic nature of the situation, we will continue to provide updates as they become available."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., immediately called for prayers upon learning of the strikes Tuesday.

One U.S. military official, reached for comment Tuesday evening, said U.S. troops were still assessing what happened.

"They're still in bunker mode," the official said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack. The Guard issued the warning in a statement carried by Iran's state-run Islamic Republic 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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Ain al-Asad air base was first used by American forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and American troops later were stationed there during the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It houses about 1,500 U.S. and coalition troops.

Two Iraqi security officials said that at least one of the missiles appeared to have struck a plane at the base, igniting a fire. It was not immediately clear whether it was an Iraqi or U.S. jet. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attacks, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they had no permission to brief journalists.

Trump visited the sprawling base, about 100 miles west of Baghdad, in December 2018, making his first presidential visit to troops in the region. Vice President Mike Pence also has visited the base.

Iranian state TV said the Guard's aerospace division that controls Iran's missile program launched the attack, which it said was part of an operation dubbed "Martyr Soleimani." Iran said it would release more information later.

WARNINGS, SECURITY ALERTS

Iran's attack happened a few hours after crowds in Iran mourned Soleimani at his funeral, and as the U.S. continued to reinforce its own positions in the region, warning of an unspecified threat to shipping from Iran in the region's waterways, crucial routes for global energy supplies. U.S. embassies and consulates from Asia to Africa and Europe issued security alerts for Americans.

The Federal Aviation Administration also warned of a "potential for miscalculation or mis-identification" of civilian aircraft in the Persian Gulf in an emergency flight restriction.

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Earlier Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on Trump to declassify the written notification he sent to Congress after the strike that killed Soleimani. The notification was mandated under the War Powers Resolution Act of 1973, which requires the president to report to Congress when American forces are sent into hostile situations.

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"The president must come to Congress and present clear and compelling intelligence as to why the strike against Soleimani was absolutely necessary," Menendez said in a speech on the Senate floor. "In the wake of all its misleading statements we must make clear to the administration that the president by himself does not have the authority to launch a war against Iran."

Trump said Tuesday that his decision saved American lives and that members of Congress will get a briefing on the reasons for the U.S. attack.

"We saved a lot of lives," Trump said. "They were planning something."

Soleimani was targeted while he was at an airport in Baghdad with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a veteran Iraqi militant who also was killed.

Trump said they weren't in Baghdad to discuss vacation plans or visit a "nice resort," but were there to talk over "bad business."

Trump stressed that the strike was in retaliation for Iranian attacks and that the U.S. is prepared to attack again -- "very strongly."

Trump's top national security officials made several public appearances Tuesday to further defend the strike on Soleimani.

"We had deep intelligence indicating there was active plotting to put American lives at risk," and Iraqi lives, too, said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Asked if the threat was imminent in days or weeks, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said: "I think it's more fair to say days, for sure."

He said Soleimani was in Baghdad to coordinate additional attacks against the U.S. "To somehow suggest that he wasn't a legitimate target, I think, is fanciful," Esper said.

IRAQI: U.S. MUST GO

Separately, Iraq's outgoing prime minister said Tuesday that the United States has no alternative and must pull its troops out of the country, or else face an impending crisis

Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned in November after mass anti-government protests, said Iraq wants a U.S. troop withdrawal to avoid further escalation as tensions soar between America and Iran.

"We have no exit but this, otherwise we are speeding toward confrontation," Abdul-Mahdi said in a prerecorded televised speech after a weekly Cabinet meeting.

He said the "historic decision" was necessary, "otherwise we will not be taken seriously."

U.S. troops are present in Iraq based on a request by the government in 2014, when vast areas of the country were being overrun by the Islamic. But now that the Islamic State has been largely defeated, Abdul-Mahdi said, the mission has devolved into a U.S.-Iran proxy war.

But the Trump administration on Tuesday insisted that the U.S. military would remain in Iraq.

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Trump, speaking at the White House, said withdrawing the estimated 5,000 U.S. troops would be the "worst thing to happen to Iraq."

"At some point, we want to get out," Trump said. "But this isn't the right point."

The conflict has been highlighted by the reaction in Baghdad to a letter sent Monday by a senior U.S. commander to Iraqi officials. The document suggested that the United States may be preparing to withdraw its troops. Marine Brig. Gen. William Seely wrote that Americans would be using helicopters to reposition U.S. forces "for onward movement" and were required to take "certain measures to ensure that the movement out of Iraq is conducted in a safe and efficient manner."

Iraqi officials said Tuesday that they are interpreting the letter as notification that U.S. troops will leave. Abdul-Mahdi said the document "was clear" and expressed exasperation with conflicting U.S. signals.

"It's not like a draft, or a paper that fell out of the photocopier and coincidentally came to us," he told the Iraqi Cabinet in comments on state television.

Esper, speaking at the Pentagon, dismissed the letter as "a draft" that "has no value," and he insinuated that its release to the public in Iraq may have had ulterior motives.

"There may be people trying to create confusion," he said. "Our policy has not changed."

Esper, when asked whether a signed copy had been sent to the Iraqis, said not "to the best of my knowledge."

But Iraqi officials said the Americans sent them the letter not once but twice, because of an error in how it was initially translated. U.S. military officials confirmed that the letter was genuine, and one said a version sent to Iraqi officials was signed.

Meanwhile, NATO said it is removing some of the trainers who have been working with Iraqi soldiers battling the Islamic State, in the aftermath of Soleimani's killing.

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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday that the training had been temporarily suspended.

For the security of NATO personnel, the organization said in a statement that it would be taking precautions -- including "the temporary repositioning of some personnel to different locations both inside and outside Iraq."

NATO, which has been running the training operation since 2018, will continue to maintain a presence in Iraq and remains committed to fighting international terrorism, an official said, while refusing to divulge details about troop movements.

The organization, which has roughly 500 soldiers in Iraq, lifted some of them out of Baghdad's Green Zone in helicopters Monday night.

Information for this article was contributed by Dan Lamothe, Michael Brice-Saddler, Rachael Bade, Felicia Sonmez, Mustafa Salim, Liz Sly, Louisa Loveluck and Missy Ryan of The Washington Post; by Nasser Karimi, Amir Vahdat, Jon Gambrell, Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller, Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Zeina Karam, Kevin Freking, Deb Riechmann and Samya Kullab of The Associated Press; and by Ron DePasquale of The New York Times.

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Defense Secretary Mark Esper, speaking Tuesday at the Pentagon, dismissed a letter sent to Iraqi officials suggesting the U.S. was preparing to withdraw troops from Iraq, calling it “a draft” that “has no value.” He suggested ulterior motives were to blame for its release. “There may be people trying to create confusion,” he said. “Our policy has not changed.” (AP/divids)

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A map showing Ain Assad air base

A Section on 01/08/2020

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