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Iraq says it received warning from Tehran about strikes on airbases – as it happened

This article is more than 4 years old
 Updated 
Wed 8 Jan 2020 09.46 ESTFirst published on Tue 7 Jan 2020 09.07 EST
Key events
Iran releases footage of missile attack on US airbases in Iraq – video

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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.
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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.

I condemn the Iranian missile attacks on US & @coalition forces in Iraq. #NATO calls on Iran to refrain from further violence. Allies continue to consult & remain committed to our training mission in Iraq. pic.twitter.com/6PdXMZxSNB

— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) January 8, 2020
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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.”

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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.

#Slovenia condemns today's missile attack on military bases in 🇮🇶 #Iraq and calls for restrain and de-escalation. 🇸🇮 is coordinating further steps and the transfer of soldiers to a safer location with 🇩🇪 #Germany, our partner in the operation Inherent Resolve. @MO_RS

— SLOVENIAN MFA (@MZZRS) January 8, 2020

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.

A German Bundeswehr soldier involved in training with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters at Zeravani training camp in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, 21 August 2019. Photograph: Gailan Haji/EPA
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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.”

A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he speaks during Prime Minister’s Question time (PMQs) in the House of Commons in London on January 8, 2020. Photograph: HO/PRU/AFP via Getty Images
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Boris Johnson: Suleimani had 'blood on his hands'

Ben Quinn
Ben Quinn

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.

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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.

#BREAKING: Kurdistan Region's President Nechirvan Barzani issues televised statement, updating public on current regional crisis. pic.twitter.com/DquXZPXNRl

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 8, 2020

'We do not want #Iraq to become a battleground -- we are in touch with all those involved' — and collective efforts made for the stability of Kurdistan Region, says President Nechirvan Barzani. pic.twitter.com/HkdNT9hupl

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 8, 2020

"We believe #Iraq needs the coalition forces in confronting ISIS terror threats" — President Barzani. pic.twitter.com/VRO1mwFkiV

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 8, 2020

"We see that the operations of the terrorist forces in Iraq are increasing in a systematic manner. This is a cause of concern for the Kurdistan Region and all of #Iraq" — President Barzani during televised presser. pic.twitter.com/gdKbrbnZrf

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 8, 2020

More on this story

More on this story

  • Congress to vote on curbing president's war powers – as it happened

  • Boris Johnson urges Iran president to end military action

  • 'They took good revenge': Iranians respond to Iraq strikes

  • Trump pulls back for now but game of chicken with Tehran far from over

  • Iran crisis: a visual guide to the latest developments

  • Dialled down: Iran's phoned-in attack just enough to ease tensions

  • EU leaders relieved as Trump steps away from Iran conflict

  • Iran chose to miss when firing rockets, British sources suggest

  • US bans airlines from flying over Iraq and Iran after attacks on military

  • Iran launches missiles at Iraq airbases hosting US and coalition troops

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