KTFA:

Don961:  JANUARY 7, 2020 / 7:27 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Iran starts 'second round' of attacks against U.S. bases in Iraq: Tasnim

 1 MIN READ

 CAIRO (Reuters) - Iran has started its “second round” of attacks against bases holding U.S. troops in Iraq, the Tehran-based Tasnim news agency said on Wednesday.

The second round of attacks started an hour after the first phase took place, the agency reported. link

Don961:  Breaking: Iran's foreign minister tweets about attack on US forces in Iraq — and President Trump responds minutes later

Zarif justified the attack, but appeared to back off on further retaliation

 CARLOS GARCIA

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted about the retaliation on US forces in Iraq, and within minutes, President Donald Trump appeared to respond.

"Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched," Zarif tweeted.

Javad Zarif

@JZarif

 Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched. We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

8:32 PM · Jan 7, 2020

 "We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression," he added.

The president appeared to accept the offer of de-escalation in a tweet posted just 13 minutes later.

"All is well!" Trump tweeted. "Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!"   Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump

 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.

8:45 PM · Jan 7, 2020

'We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday the White House had announced that the president would be making a statement about the retaliation from Iran, but that was later cancell

Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at Iraqi bases were US forces were stationed in a counterattack as a response to the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a top leader of the Iranian military.

Some reports indicated that Iran was threatening to strike US allies, including Israel, if the president ordered a counterstrike. Fox News' Bret Baier noted that Iran avoided larger targets that could have been struck easier.   LINK

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HoosierGirl:  It has been plainly stated, there will be NO war, by various political figures and those close to Pres. Trump. There may be some "military action" to STOP the stupid stuff Iran is doing, but there will be NO ground war drug out for years.  Whatever will be done, if anything, will be direct and fast and over before we even know it's begun.  Pres. Trump is going to address this 'in the morning" and I have a feeling we will see things settled by then.  A 4.9 earthquake just hit Iran (not sure where yet).  All of this is from news I've been watching and reading and of course, it's all

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Don961:  about 2 hours ago 4.5 magnitude, 10 km depth   Borāzjān, Bushehr, Iran 4.5 magnitude earthquake 18 km from Borāzjān, Bushehr, Iran

about 2 hours ago

UTC time: Wednesday, January 08, 2020 03:19 AM

Your time: 2020-01-08T03:19:13Z

Magnitude Type: mb

USGS page: M 4.5 - 17km SSE of Borazjan, Iran

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Reports from the public: 0 people     link

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Don961:  2 hours ago   Ted Cruz: Iran missiles fired at Iraqi airbases were 'in a very real sense' paid for by billions that Obama sent Tehran    link

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Don961:  Boeing plane crashes 180 passengers after taking off from Tehran

January 08, 2020

The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that a Boeing 737, belonging to the Ukrainian Airlines, landed shortly after take-off from the Imam Khomeini airport in Iran, with 180 passengers on board.

This incident coincides with the tension prevailing in the region following the launch of Tehran at dawn Wednesday, "more than 12 missiles" at Ain Al-Assad base and another base in Arbil, Iraq, which includes American forces.

While the exact cause of the crash was not identified, the Iranian Tasnim Agency confirmed that a technical defect was behind the accident and that it had fallen shortly after take-off.

It is noteworthy that the US Federal Civil Aviation Administration announced on Tuesday evening that it banned American civil aviation from flying over Iraq, Iran, Gulf waters, and the Sea of ​​Oman.

The administration said in a statement that it "will continue to monitor events in the Middle East closely."   link

Don961:  Where did Iran attack US forces in Iraq?

Targets were two airbases, including Ain al-Asad, which was attacked previously by ISIL in 2016.

38 minutes ago

Iran said early on Wednesday that it had fired more than a dozen rockets at two Iraqi military bases hosting American troops amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington.

The missiles targeted two bases, Ain al-Asad in Anbar province, and a base in Erbil 

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that it conducted the operation at the same early morning hour that the US killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani on Friday.

Iran has vowed to take revenge against the US following the killing of Soleimani.

The general was buried early on Wednesday in his hometown of Kerman, after a deadly a deadly stampede at his funeral procession on Tuesday. People across Iran turned out to pay their respects at funeral processions that took place during three days of official mourning. 

According to Iran's Fars news agency, Fateh-313 missiles hit Ain al-Asad air base, which is located 233km (144 miles) west of Baghdad.

An aerial view of Ain al-Asad air base located in the western Anbar desert west of Baghdad [File: Nasser Nasser/AP]

The Fateh-313 surface-to-surface missile was launched in August 2015 and has a range of 500km (310 miles).

According to the US Central Command, which oversees the US military in the region, 15 missiles were fired, with 10 hitting the Asad base in Anbar, and one at a location near Erbil airport. Four of the missiles reportedly failed.

Ain al-Asad was the second largest American airbase in Iraq established during the US occupation of the country between 2003 and 2011.

In 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) also launched attacks at the base, which then housed several hundred US troops and advisers training the Iraqi army after the US withdrawal in 2011.

The second US base in Erbil has not been unnamed, but it is close to the airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

At its peak, there were an estimated 150,000 American troops stationed in Iraq. Most of them left in 2011.

In 2016, following the advance of ISIL, the number of US troops increased once again to 5,000, with an additional 1,000 more repositioned from Syria, bringing the total to about 6,000 as of October 2019. 

Then following the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on New Year's Eve, US President Donald Trump ordered the immediate deployment of an additional 750 troops to Iraq to secure the diplomatic compound.

In recent days, an additional 3,000 troops were deployed to the Middle East, but it is unknown how many of them were sent directly to Iraq.    LINK