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Iraq says it received warning from Tehran about strikes on airbases – as it happened
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Wed 8 Jan 2020 09.46 EST
First published on Tue 7 Jan 2020 09.07 EST- Summary
- Boris Johnson: Suleimani had 'blood on his hands'
- Iran will not hand over black box from crashed plane
- Iranian president says US forces will be 'kicked out' of region
- Iran warned Iraq that missile strikes would begin, says Iraqi PM
- EU commission president calls for end to use of weapons in US-Iran crisis
- Iran's supreme leader says US given 'slap in the face'
- Dominic Raab condemns ‘reckless and dangerous’ missile attacks
- Iraq claims no Iraqis were harmed in missile strikes
- Iranian state media claim at least 80 US casualties in missile strikes
- 'No chance' of finding survivors of plane crash, says Iran's Red Crescent
- Passenger plane crashes minutes after take-off from Tehran airport
- Where things stand
- Donald Trump: 'All is well!'
- Iran's foreign minister issues a statement
- Here's what we know so far
- Iran has reportedly fired at multiple US facilities in Iraq
- Iran launches missiles on Iraqi air base where US troops are housed
- Evening summary
- Republican congressman submits expected resignation
- Trump: Bolton 'would know nothing about what we’re talking about'
- Trump says Suleimani strike was 'retaliation'
- McConnell says he has votes to set impeachment trial rules
- White House criticized for not disclosing meeting with Saudi official
- Biden calls Trump "dangerously incompetent"
- Afternoon summary
- Esper says US is not withdrawing from Iraq
- Prosecutors recommend zero to six months of incarceration for Flynn
- McConnell reportedly prepares to advance impeachment trial rules
- Pelosi dodges questions about transmitting articles of impeachment
- Saudi official shares picture of Oval Office meeting with Trump
- Pompeo says US will not strike Iranian cultural sites
- Pompeo addresses reporters at the State Department
- US forces reportedly on high alert across the Middle East
- Warren targets Biden with new bankruptcy plan
- Pompeo to speak at State Department at 10 a.m. ET
- Spotlight on Pelosi as House speaker delays sending articles of impeachment
Live feed
- Summary
- Boris Johnson: Suleimani had 'blood on his hands'
- Iran will not hand over black box from crashed plane
- Iranian president says US forces will be 'kicked out' of region
- Iran warned Iraq that missile strikes would begin, says Iraqi PM
- EU commission president calls for end to use of weapons in US-Iran crisis
- Iran's supreme leader says US given 'slap in the face'
- Dominic Raab condemns ‘reckless and dangerous’ missile attacks
- Iraq claims no Iraqis were harmed in missile strikes
- Iranian state media claim at least 80 US casualties in missile strikes
- 'No chance' of finding survivors of plane crash, says Iran's Red Crescent
- Passenger plane crashes minutes after take-off from Tehran airport
- Where things stand
- Donald Trump: 'All is well!'
- Iran's foreign minister issues a statement
- Here's what we know so far
- Iran has reportedly fired at multiple US facilities in Iraq
- Iran launches missiles on Iraqi air base where US troops are housed
- Evening summary
- Republican congressman submits expected resignation
- Trump: Bolton 'would know nothing about what we’re talking about'
- Trump says Suleimani strike was 'retaliation'
- McConnell says he has votes to set impeachment trial rules
- White House criticized for not disclosing meeting with Saudi official
- Biden calls Trump "dangerously incompetent"
- Afternoon summary
- Esper says US is not withdrawing from Iraq
- Prosecutors recommend zero to six months of incarceration for Flynn
- McConnell reportedly prepares to advance impeachment trial rules
- Pelosi dodges questions about transmitting articles of impeachment
- Saudi official shares picture of Oval Office meeting with Trump
- Pompeo says US will not strike Iranian cultural sites
- Pompeo addresses reporters at the State Department
- US forces reportedly on high alert across the Middle East
- Warren targets Biden with new bankruptcy plan
- Pompeo to speak at State Department at 10 a.m. ET
- Spotlight on Pelosi as House speaker delays sending articles of impeachment
Summary
- Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US and coalition troops overnight, declaring the strikes to be retaliation for the killing last week of the senior Iranian general Qassem Suleimani. You can read the full report here. Iranian officials initially told state media, without presenting evidence, that at least 80 US personnel had been killed or injured in the strikes, but President Donald Trump tweeted that casualty assessments were underway but “so far, so good”. He is expected to make a statement this morning.
- The Iraqi prime minister’s office said they had received a verbal message from the Iranians shortly after midnight saying that their “response to the assassination of the martyr Qassem Soleimani had begun or would start shortly” and would be limited to US military stationed in Iraq. At the same time, they were informed by the Americans that strikes had begun against US forces at various locations in the country.
- Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, described the bombings as “a slap in the face” for the US but warned that Tehran still had a wider goal of expelling its enemy from the region. He told an audience in the city of Qom:
We just gave [the US] a slap in the face last night. But that is not equivalent to what they did.
- International leaders have called on both sides to refrain from further violence. EU commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said “the use of weapons must stop now to give space for dialogue”.
- Meanwhile, a passenger plane bound for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has crashed a few minutes after taking off from Tehran’s main international airport, killing 176 people. Iran’s Red Crescent said there was no chance of finding survivors, and Pir Hossein Kulivand, an Iranian emergency official, later told state TV all those onboard had been killed. Iran has said it will not hand over the black box of the plane – which contains vital records of how the tragedy occurred – to Boeing.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has condemned Iran’s missile strike against US forces in Iraq, while a Nato official says there were no casualties among the military alliances personnel in the country.
The Iraqi mission consists of several hundred staff from allied nations and non-Nato countries. In a message to the Associated Press, the Nato official who was not authorised to speak publicly said they were “keeping the situation under close review”.
Meanwhile, in a message posted on Twitter, Stoltenberg urged Iran to refrain from further violence.
French citizens in the Israeli city of Haifa should exercise caution in light of the tensions in the Middle East, the French Foreign Ministry has said in an update to security advice on its website.
“Following the recent escalation in tensions in the region, the city of Haifa has been the subject of explicit threats,” it said in a statement, without giving any more precise details.
Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office doesn’t specifically mention Haifa, but advises visitors to the travel section of its website: “There is a possibility of an increased threat against western interests and the security situation could worsen with little warning.”
Slovenia’s defence ministry has said its six soldiers stationed in northern Iraq with a German-led training mission will be evacuated after their base came under Iranian missile attack overnight.
The Slovenian ministry said the soldiers were unhurt in the attack near Irbil as they were in the base’s shelter during the strike.
As we reported on Tuesday, Germany is reducing its troop numbers in Iraq for security reasons after the death of the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad last week.
It is the first coalition withdrawal since the Iraqi parliament voted on Sunday to call for the withdrawal of US forces from the country. The non-binding resolution has prompted a chaotic response from US officials.
We’ve produced a useful visual guide to the latest developments in the region, as Iranian strikes on US airbases in Iraq intensified the crisis sparked by the US killing of Suliemani last week.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, said: “Isn’t the truth, Mr Speaker, that this prime minister is unable to stand up to President Trump because he has hitched his wagon to a trade deal with the United States and that prioritises everything else that he ought to be considering?”
Johnson replied: “This is absolute fiction. But what I will say is that the UK will continue to work for de-escalation in the region.”
Boris Johnson: Suleimani had 'blood on his hands'
Boris Johnson has told parliament that Qassem Suleimani had the “blood of British troops on his hands”.
Answering a question from the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, during the first prime minister’s questions since the British general election, Johnson said the US had the right to defend its bases.
During exchanges that were interpreted as a further move by Britain towards the US position on the killing of the Iranian general last week, Johnson also sidestepped questions from Corbyn about the legality of the killing.
“Clearly the strict issue of legality is not for the UK to determine since it was not our operation,” said Johnson.
“But I think most reasonable people would accept that the United States has the right to protect its bases and its personnel.”
He added that the senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards figure had supplied “improvised explosive devices to terrorists, which I’m afraid killed and maimed British troops”.
He added: “That man had the blood of British troops on his hands.”
Johnson also left open the question of whether Britain would abide by Iraqi wishes for US and British troops to withdraw from the country if the government followed through on a vote taken by the Iraqi parliament. He added that Britain would work to secure the security of people in Iraq from Isis.
Prime minister’s questions is taking place in the UK parliament and Boris Johnson has been asked about escalating tensions between the US and Iran. You can read live updates from the Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow here:
Nechirvan Barzani, the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish north, has issued a televised statement, saying that he does not want Iraq to “become a battleground” and that it needs the support of coalition forces to help tackle Isis.