Iran Fires Ballistic Missiles at Iraqi Bases Housing U.S. Troops

Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two airbases housing U.S. forces tonight, prompting former Iran nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to wordlessly tweet an image of the Iranian flag — just as President Trump tweeted the American flag after killing IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the missiles, which struck Ain al-Asad air base west of Baghdad as well as Erbil in Kurdistan, were fired at 5:30 p.m. EST, just hours after Soleimani’s public funeral.

“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil,” Hoffman said, adding that DoD was “working on initial battle damage assessments.”

Iraqi officials did not report any casualties among their forces.

“In recent days and in response to Iranian threats and actions, the Department of Defense has taken all appropriate measures to safeguard our personnel and partners. These bases have been on high alert due to indications that the Iranian regime planned to attack our forces and interests in the region,” he said. “As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend U.S. personnel, partners, and allies in the region.”

The State Department said Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spokes about the missile strikes by phone. Trump tweeted, “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.”

Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that his country “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,” he added.

Bridget Johnson

Bridget Johnson is the Managing Editor for Homeland Security Today. A veteran journalist whose news articles and analyses have run in dozens of news outlets across the globe, Bridget first came to Washington to be online editor and a foreign policy writer at The Hill. Previously she was an editorial board member at the Rocky Mountain News and syndicated nation/world news columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News. Bridget is a terrorism analyst and security consultant with a specialty in online open-source extremist propaganda, incitement, recruitment, and training. She hosts and presents in Homeland Security Today law enforcement training webinars studying a range of counterterrorism topics including conspiracy theory extremism, complex coordinated attacks, critical infrastructure attacks, arson terrorism, drone and venue threats, antisemitism and white supremacists, anti-government extremism, and WMD threats. She is a Senior Risk Analyst for Gate 15 and a private investigator. Bridget is an NPR on-air contributor and has contributed to USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, New York Observer, National Review Online, Politico, New York Daily News, The Jerusalem Post, The Hill, Washington Times, RealClearWorld and more, and has myriad television and radio credits including Al-Jazeera, BBC and SiriusXM.

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