The US Ain al-Assad air base in W. Iraq and a US facility at Irbil, capital of the Kurdish republic, were hit by 35 missiles early Wednesday, January 8, Tehran announced.
Sources linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that these attacks were part of a series still to come in revenge for the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimaini.
“This morning, courageous fighters of the IRGC’s Air Force launched a successful operation called Operation Martyr Soleimani, with the code ‘Oh Zahra’ by firing tens of ground-to-ground missiles at the base of the terrorist and invasive U.S. forces named Ain Al Asad,” state news outlet ISNA reported.
Iran had vowed to retaliate U.S. killing of military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone attack in Iraq.
After urgent consultations at the White House and the Pentagon on how to handle this latest attack, President Donald Trump made this comment on Twitter: “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damage 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.”
DEBKAfile’s military sources: The missile strikes on the two US bases occurred shortly after the Soleimani funeral ended. It was in line with the revenge attacks that Iran has threatened to launch against the US military in Iraq and across the Middle East. US military facilities were already on the ready.
On Tuesday, top war preparedness was declared at all US facilities in the region and by the armies of America’s allies, including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The statement issued by Israel’ security cabinet on Monday, that Israel is not involved in the heightened tension between America and Iran following the killing of Qassem Soleimani, was simply an attempt to calm public concerns.
Meanwhile, the level of damage at the US bases is yet unknown.
Sources: Debkafile, ISNA
