A day after an American air strike killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, top Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and other Iranian and Iraqi figures, mortar rounds were fired at Iraq's Green Zone, the high-security enclave where the US embassy is based. Two rockets were also unleashed on a military base housing US troops. This is widely considered a trigger for escalation of conflict in the volatile Middle East, especially in Iraq, the battleground of a larger Iran-US conflict.
In Baghdad, mortar rounds on Saturday evening hit the Green Zone. The Iraqi military said that one projectile hit inside the zone, while another landed close to the enclave, setting off alarm sirens. A pair of Katyusha rockets then hit the Balad airbase north of Baghdad, where American troops are based, according to reports.
In response, US president Donald is targeting 52 sites in Iran and will hit them "very fast and very hard" if the Islamic republic attacks American personnel or assets. In a tweet defending Friday's drone strike assassination of a top Iranian general in Iraq, Trump said 52 represents the number of Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late 1979. Trump said some of these sites are "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!"
Trump took to Twitter after pro-Iran factions ramped up pressure on US installations across Iraq with missiles and warnings to Iraqi troops—part of an outburst of fury over the killing of Soleimani, described as the second most-powerful man in Iran. The attack has prompted fears of a major conflagration in the Middle East. In the first hints of a possible retaliatory response, two mortar rounds hit an area near the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, security sources told AFP. Almost simultaneously, two rockets slammed into the Al-Balad airbase where American troops are deployed, security sources said.
The Iraqi military confirmed the missile attacks in Baghdad and on al-Balad and said there were no casualties. The US embassy in Baghdad as well as the 5,200 American troops stationed across the country have faced a spate of rocket attacks in recent months that Washington has blamed on Iran and its allies in Iraq. One attack last month killed a US contractor working in northern Iraq, prompting retaliatory American air strikes that killed 25 hardline fighters close to Iran.
Tensions boiled over on Friday when the US struck Soleimani's convoy as it drove out of the airport, and US diplomats and troops across Iraq had been bracing themselves for more rocket attacks. General Soleimani was the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus. The Pentagon alleged that the strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.
"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more," it alleged.
It said that General Soleimani had "orchestrated" attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months—including the attack on December 27—culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad that took place this week, it said.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday stressed the "need for de-escalation". Borrell said he also urged Zarif to maintain the landmark nuclear accord negotiated between Iran and the UN Security Council permanent members—Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States—plus Germany. The deal, also known as the JCPOA, offered Tehran relief from stinging sanctions in return for curbs to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons. Agreed in 2015 it has been at risk of falling apart since Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. "Also discussed importance of preserving #JCPOA, which remains crucial for global security. I am committed to role as coordinator," Borrell said.
-Inputs from agencies