U.S. officials respond to Iran's missile attack on two American air bases in Iraq
U.S. officials have been responding to Iran's missile attack on two air bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq.
On Tuesday afternoon (CST), after 22 ballistic missiles were fired on bases in Irbil and Al Asad, where Americans were housed in bunkers, President Trump responded by encouraging Americans that "all is well" in a tweet.
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.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2020
On Wednesday morning, during an address to the nation, Mr. Trump confirmed that the missile strikes did not result in any casualties.
Click here to watch the President's full address.
Apparently, not all of the missiles launched made it to their target.
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In the image below, a tweet from Hayder Hamzoz of the Iraqi Network for Social Media, showed what Hamzoz says are photos of one of the unexploded Iranian ballistic missiles that landed in Hitan, which is an area south of the Al Asad air base and west of the town of Hit.
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— Hamzoz ???? ????? (@Hamzoz) January 8, 2020
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One of the ballistic missiles of Iran that landed in the village of Hitan in Heet, 40 km from the Ein Al-Assad Airbase#insm_iq#Iran #Iraq #USvsIran #IranUsa pic.twitter.com/8MFI8xMUnB
On both the U.S. and Iranian sides of the issue are representatives who imply that war is not the objective.
Senator Kennedy spoke to reporters Tuesday evening, saying, "We just want Iran to leave us alone. Stop killing Americans. Stop killing our friends. And, Iran can't have a nuclear weapon."
For the most part, Iranian officials say the attack was retaliation against the U.S. for its Jan. 2 airstrike that killed the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, labeled the attack "a slap in the face" to the U.S. and called for an end to the U.S. presence in the region.
Similarly, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the attack was one of self-defense and denied seeking to escalate the situation to war.
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.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 8, 2020
We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.