80 people dead as Iran fires missiles at US forces in Iraq

Iran on Wednesday launched missile attack on two Iraqi airbases where US forces are based.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least 80 people have been killed as Iran fired missiles Wednesday at Iraqi bases used by the US military, Tehran media claimed, in the first act of the Islamic republic s promised revenge for the US killing of a top Iranian general.

The Pentagon said it was still "working on initial battle damage assessments" after "Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq."

"It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil," the Pentagon said.

There were no immediate reports on casualties but the Pentagon said it had been ready, after days of steadily mounting tension and exchanges of threats of war.

"These bases have been on high alert due to indications that the Iranian regime planned to attack our forces and interests in the region," a spokesman said.

Iranian state television reported an attack on one base housing US personnel, saying it was in response to Friday s killing in a US drone strike of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, one of the most important figures in the country s government.

Also killed was a top Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was with Soleimani just outside Baghdad international airport when the US drone struck.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced that the Ain al-Assad base was hit with dozens of missiles, warning that a US counter-attack would be met with an even "more crushing response."

In Washington, US President Donald Trump was "monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team," according to the White House.

Oil prices immediately jumped on the news, with the benchmark WTI spiking more than 4.5 percent to $65.54 a barrel before receding slightly.

Tension and threats 

The potentially lethal new development followed days of sabre rattling between Washington and Tehran, coupled with growing confusion over the future of US troops in Iraq.

At Soleimani s funeral in Iran, top Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami said Iran would "take revenge."

If further US attacks occur, "we will set fire to what they love," he said.

Trump warned that "if Iran does anything that they shouldn t be doing, they re going to be suffering the consequences and very strongly."

He called Soleimani "a monster."

Trump, however, did walk back earlier threats to bomb Iranian cultural sites in the event of conflict -- something that could be a war crime.

"If that s what the law is, I like to obey the law," Trump said.

In the Iranian city of Kerman, meanwhile, tragedy deepened an already highly tense situation when more than 50 people died in a crowd stampede at Soleimani s funeral, Iranian media reported.

The influential figure, responsible for Iran s regional network of official and unofficial military allies, was due to be buried in his home town when the crowd got out of control.

Foreign troops waver 

Trump sought to end confusion over the status of the approximately US 5,200 troops in Iraq, saying they should stay despite calls by the Iraqi parliament for their expulsion.

"At some point we want to get out, but this isn t the right point," Trump told reporters at the White House.

But despite Washington s assurances that the US troops will stay put, several allies started to leave, raising questions over the future of a US-led mission to help the Iraqis fight the Islamic State group.

Canada announced that some of its estimated 500 troops will withdraw to Kuwait. And NATO, which suspended its training mission in Iraq after the killing, said it also was temporarily "repositioning" some personnel to locations inside and outside Iraq.

Several other countries, including Germany and Romania, announced plans to move forces. France said it had no intention of withdrawing its troops from Iraq.

Italy also said that after a "frank and articulate" phone call between Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini and Esper that its approximately 1,000 soldiers in the country would stay.

 US attempts to clarify 

On Sunday the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of expelling US troops in response to Soleimani s killing.

Then on Monday, a letter emerged from the head of Task Force-Iraq, US Brigadier General William Seely, that appeared to announce just such an exit.

Back in Washington, US officials scrambled to deny the idea, calling the letter a mistakenly released draft or, as Trump suggested, a fake.

"I don t know anything about that letter," Trump told reporters. "I understand it was an unsigned letter. I don t know if that letter was a hoax, or was it unsigned or what."

Iraq s prime minister, however, insisted Tuesday that the letter had been taken seriously.

"It was an official letter written in such a manner," Abdel Mahdi told a televised cabinet meeting.

"It s not a piece of paper that fell off the printer or reached us by coincidence," he said.

Attempting to draw a line under the issue, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that "policy has not changed. We are not leaving Iraq."

Trump said he favored eventual withdrawal from Iraq but that under the wrong conditions it would mean a strategic gift to Iran.

"If we leave, that would mean that Iran would have a much bigger foothold, and the people of Iraq do not want to see Iran run the country. That I can tell you," Trump told reporters.

"It s the worst thing that could happen to Iraq."

EU calls Iran rocket attacks ‘escalation’

The EU’s diplomatic chief condemned Iran’s rocket attacks on Iraqi bases housing US troops, urging an end to the "spiral of violence" as Europe tries to defuse the growing crisis.

The assassination of Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday sparked an outpouring of rage and grief in Iran, and the country’s supreme leader hailed the latest rocket attacks as a "slap in the face" for Washington.

"The latest rocket attacks on air bases in Iraq used by US and coalition forces, among them European forces, are yet another example of escalation and increased confrontation," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.

"It is in no-one’s interest to turn up the spiral of violence even further," he said, warning that the latest crisis was hampering the fight against the Islamic State.

EU foreign ministers are holding emergency talks on the Iran crisis on Friday to discuss what the bloc can do to reduce tensions, but its options for action are limited.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will raise the situation when she meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London later Wednesday, said "the use of weapons must stop" to allow space for dialogue.

China urges restraint after missile attacks

China urged restraint from all sides after Iran launched missiles, saying Beijing would play a "responsible role" in helping to defuse tensions

"It is not in the interest of any party that the situation in the Middle East worsens further," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.

"We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint," he said.

Geng said China would "play a responsible role in promoting a de-escalation of the situation as soon as possible".

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a key partner of Iran and a major buyer of the country’s oil.

"China has always advocated that all parties concerned should properly resolve their conflicts and differences through dialogue, negotiation and other peaceful means," Geng said.

Iran’s embassy in Beijing posted on Wednesday an announcement on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform that "the end of America’s evil influence in West Asia has begun".

The post was "liked" more than 380,000 times on Wednesday, with multiple commenters cheering Iran.

"Support the people of Iran in attacking the world’s number-one terrorist!" one user wrote.

Others called the people of Iran "brothers," and some said they wished to donate money to Tehran.

Iran, China and Russia held joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman in December and the Iranian foreign minister visited Beijing on New Year’s Eve.

China and Russia are also parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, from which Trump withdrew in May last year.

The deal is now unravelling, with Tehran announcing on Sunday that it would rollback the limit on the number of centrifuges used in uranium enrichment, one of its commitments under the agreement.

Airlines avoiding flying through Iran and Iraq airspace

A growing number of airlines said they were avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace or flights to the region after Tehran fired ballistic missiles.

"As a precautionary measure and following news of air strikes underway, Air France has decided to suspend until further notice all flights through Iranian and Iraqi airspace," an Air France spokesman told AFP.

Shortly after the missile attacks, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was banning US-registered carriers from flying over Iraq, Iran and the Gulf.

The region is an important corridor for flights travelling between Europe and Asia, although planes can be rerouted.

A KLM spokesman told AFP: "Until further notice, KLM has no flights over Iranian or Iraqi airspace. All flights to different Southeast Asian destinations and other destinations in the Middle East will be flown through alternative routes."

In Germany, Lufthansa said it had cancelled its daily flight to Tehran in addition to halting overflights of Iran and Iraq until further notice.

It added that Saturday’s twice-weekly service to northern Iraqi city Erbil would also not depart.

UAE carriers Emirates Airline and low-cost Flydubai said they had cancelled flights to Baghdad for "operational reasons".

Australia’s Qantas said one of its London-Perth flights would be rerouted, with the other already flying an alternative route.

"We’re adjusting our flight paths over the Middle East to avoid the airspace over Iraq and Iran until further notice," said a spokesman.

Both Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines said they would divert flights from Iranian airspace.

Vietnam Airlines said it will make "appropriate adjustments" of routes to avoid areas of potential instability although its regular flight paths to Europe do not pass over Iran and Iraq.

Japanese airlines ANA and JAL, and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific said their planes do not fly through airspace affected by latest flare-up.