Iran missile attacks target US forces in Iraq, Trump says 'All is well!'

A senior in the Iranian Supreme Leader’s office said the attacks were the 'weakest' of several retaliation scenarios

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON: Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles from its territory against at least two Iraqi facilities hosting US-led coalition personnel at about 1:30am (2230 GMT on Tuesday), the US military said.

US President Donald Trump said in a tweet late on Tuesday that an assessment of casualties and damage from the strikes was under way and that he would make a statement on Wednesday morning.

“All is well!” Trump, who visited the al-Asad air base in December 2018, said in the Twitter post.

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One source said early indications were of no US casualties. Other US officials declined to comment.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps confirmed they fired the missiles in retaliation for last week’s killing of Qassem Soleimani, according to a statement on state TV.

The force advised the United States to withdraw its troops from the region to prevent more deaths and warned US allies including Israel not to allow attacks from their territories.

Iranian television reported a senior official in the Iranian Supreme Leader’s office said the missile attacks were the “weakest” of several retaliation scenarios.

Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement the bases targeted were al Asad air base and another facility in Erbil, Iraq.

“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend US personnel, partners, and allies in the region.”

Hours earlier on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the United States should anticipate retaliation from Iran over Friday’s killing in Iraq of Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force.

“I think we should expect that they will retaliate in some way, shape or form,” he told a news briefing at the Pentagon.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran “took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter”.

“We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression,” he wrote in a post on Twitter.

If the US military was indeed spared casualties, and Iran has completed its threatened retaliation for the US drone strike on Soleimani, as Zarif suggested, there might be an opportunity for Washington and Tehran to seek an off-ramp to their increasingly violent confrontation.

Asian stock markets, which had been roiled by the attack, pared some of their losses after the tweets from Trump and Zarif. US crude prices also retreated after surging almost 5% on worries any conflict could cut oil supplies.