Iran
Mourners carry the coffins of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and eight others towards the Imam Ali Shrine in the shrine city of Najaf on January 4, 2020. Photo: Haidar Hamdani/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – President Donald Trump threatened to hit Iran “very hard and very fast” if the Islamic Republic were to retaliate for the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Iranian officials, including the Supreme Leader and the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have threatened the US with “harsh revenge” for the killing of the commander of the elite Quds forces.
“Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian cultures, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!” Trump tweeted early Sunday morning.
Iran is in three days of mourning for Soleimani who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad on Friday, along with the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and eight others. The general’s body arrived in Iran on Sunday morning. There will be funeral ceremonies in Mashhad, Tehran, and Kerman over the next three days.
The US maintains that the decision to kill Soleimani was a “defensive” one as there was an “imminent” threat to American lives. The crisis began on December 27 when an American contractor was killed in an attack on the K-1 military base in Kirkuk, Iraq. The US blamed the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah and launched airstrikes against the group, killing 25 militiamen. After their funerals, members and supporters of Kataib Hezbollah stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad.
Iran has vowed to avenge its general, whose death has united hardliners and reformists in the country. “The US’ act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani – THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al – is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation,” tweeted Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif. Experts, pundits, and US politicians were quick to respond to Trump’s threat to target 52 sites, including ones of cultural importance, saying such an action would constitute a war crime.
“This is a war crime,” tweeted US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “Threatening to target and kill innocent families, women and children – which is what you’re doing by targeting cultural sites – does not make you a “tough guy.” It does not make you “strategic.” It makes you a monster.”
The 52 hostages Trump referenced were held for 444 days from November 1979 to January 1981 after university students stormed the US embassy in Tehran. The student supporters of the Islamic Revolution demanded the US return the overthrown Shah to face trial for crimes he committed during his reign. The hostage crisis ended diplomatic ties between Iran and the US.
Ali Vaez, Iran expert at the International Crisis Group, does not expect Iran’s leadership to take Trump’s tweets seriously. “They think Trump won’t start the costliest-ever US intervention in the region as his presidency will go down in flames with it,” he stated.
Despite his threats, Trump has repeatedly said he does not want a war and has made it a priority of his presidency to end lengthy wars like America’s involvement in Afghanistan. Earlier on Saturday, however, his administration sent Congress formal notification of the drone strike that killed Soleimani. Under the War Powers Act, such notice must be sent within 48 hours of US forces entering into hostilities.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned Trump’s action, saying the strike was a “provocative, escalatory and disproportionate military engagement” that puts US lives in danger.
The notification sent to Congress was classified, she said, leading her to question the “timing, manner and justification” of the decision to kill Soleimani. “The highly unusual decision to classify this document in its entirely compounds our many concerns, and suggest that the Congress and the American people are being left in the dark about our national security,” she stated.
US allies are urging restraint on all sides. The European Union’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell Fontelles spoke with Zarif on Saturday when he “Underlined need for de-escalation of tensions, to exercise restraint & avoid further escalation.”
Western nations have advised their nationals leave Iraq and the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) has suspended training of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces in order to prioritize protection of their troops in the country.
Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif, noting the thousands of Iraqis who joined a funeral procession on Saturday for Soleimani and Muhandis in Baghdad and the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, said this spells the end for US in the region: "End of US malign presence in West Asia has begun," he tweeted.
On Saturday evening, rockets were fired at locations near two bases hosting international troops in Baghdad and Balad, north of the capital. No coalition forces were injured. There have been a total of 13 such attacks in the past two months, according to the global coalition against ISIS.
“We have increased security and defensive measures at the Iraqi bases that host anti-ISIS Coalition troops. Our command places protection of Coalition personnel and security partners as the top priority; we remain vigilant and resolute,” said spokesperson Col. Myles B. Caggins III in an emailed statement.
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