At\nleast two airbases housing US troops in Iraq have been hit by more than a dozen\nballistic missiles, according to the US Department of Defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iranian\nstate TV says the attack is a retaliation after the country’s top commander\nQasem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad, on the orders of US\nPresident Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nPentagon says at least two sites were attacked, in Irbil and Al Asad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nis unclear if there have been any casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We\nare aware of the reports of attacks on US facilities in Iraq. The president has\nbeen briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his\nnational security team,” White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in\na statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran’s\nRevolutionary Guard said the attack was in retaliation for the death of\nSoleimani on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We\nare warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army,\nthat any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran\nwill be targeted,” it said via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run\nIRNA news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iranian\nForeign Minister Javad Zarif later issued a statement on Twitter, claiming the\nattack was self-defence and denied seeking to escalate the situation into war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President\nTrump tweeted shortly afterwards, insisting “all is well”, while\nadding that they had not yet assessed possible casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nattacks took place hours after the burial of Soleimani. The second attack\noccurred in Irbil shortly after the first rockets hit Al Asad, Al Mayadeen TV\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier\nin the day, President Trump said a US withdrawal of troops from Iraq would be\nthe worst thing for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His\ncomments came in the wake of a letter, which the US military said had been sent\nin error, to Iraq’s prime minister, apparently agreeing to a request by Iraqi\nMPs to pull troops out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nUS has around 5,000 troops in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nUK foreign office told the BBC: “We are urgently working to establish the\nfacts on the ground. Our first priority is the security of British\npersonnel.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nUK has put the Royal Navy and military helicopters on standby amid rising\ntensions in the Middle East, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How\ndid we get here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nassassination of Soleimani on January 3 was a major escalation in already\ndeteriorating relations between Iran and the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ngeneral – who controlled Iran’s proxy forces across the Middle East – was\nregarded as a terrorist by the US government, which says he was responsible for\nthe deaths of hundreds of American troops and was plotting “imminent”\nattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iran\nvowed “severe revenge” for his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr\nTrump, meanwhile, warned the US would respond in the event of retaliation\n“perhaps in a disproportionate manner”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He\nwas a monster. And he’s no longer a monster. He’s dead,” Mr Trump said,\ndefending his decision. “He was planning a big attack, a bad attack for\nus. I don’t think anyone can complain about it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Millions\nof Iranians turned out for the commander’s funeral, with mourners chanting\n“death to America” and “death to Trump”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nstampede at the burial in Soleimani’s hometown Kerman killed 50 people and\ninjured 200 more on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After\nthe event resumed, top Iranian officials renewed their threats of revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The\nmartyr Qasem Soleimani is more powerful… now that he is dead,” the\nRevolutionary Guards’ top general, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, told the crowds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How\ndoes Iraq fit into this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Iran\nsupports a variety of Shia militia groups in neighbouring Iraq. On Friday,\nSoleimani had just arrived at Baghdad airport and was travelling in a convoy\nalongside officials from such groups when their cars were hit by several US\nmissiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iraq\nnow finds itself in a difficult position as an ally both of Iran and of the US.\nThousands of US troops remain in the country to assist in the broader struggle\nagainst the Sunni Muslim Islamic State (IS) group but Iraq’s government insists\nthe US has acted beyond the terms of this agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prime\nMinister Adel Abdul Mahdi labelled the missile strike that killed Soleimani as\na “brazen violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and a blatant attack on the\nnation’s dignity”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At least two airbases housing US troops in Iraq have been hit by more than a dozen ballistic missiles, according to the US Department of Defence. Iranian state TV says the attack is a retaliation after the country’s top commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad, on the orders of US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":13111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[161],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-13110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n