Iran has claimed responsibility for a missile attack against a base in Anbar province in western Iraq that holds Iraqi and some U.S. forces.
There were no immediate reports of casualties at the heavily protected base.
The attack came in the early hours of Wednesday morning, local time, with reports that several missiles struck Al Asad air base. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack is the beginning of a “fierce revenge” following the death of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
In a statement, the Guard said: “The brave soldiers of IRGC’s aerospace unit have launched a successful attack with tens of ballistic missiles on Al Assad military base in the name of martyr Gen. Qassem Soleimani.”
On Tuesday, Soleimani’s successor, Gen. Esmail Ghaani, vowed to “rid the region of America” as mourners gathered in the streets of Tehran.
Soleimani, 62, was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. A top White House adviser said the strike against Soleimani prevented the deaths of “hundreds of Americans.”
President Trump said he has a list of 52 Iranian targets, including cultural sites, that might be attacked should Iran retaliate for the general’s death.
