Iran commander warns of ‘harsher revenge’ after missile strikes against US in Iraq: report

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has warned the United States of a tougher retaliation after Tehran targeted American forces housed at bases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Thursday quoted senior commander Abdollah Araghi as saying Iran would take “harsher revenge soon.”

The comments come a day after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missile strikes at airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian general Qasim Soleimani.

Read More: Iran strikes military bases in Iraq, Kurdistan housing US forces: Pentagon

According to an Iraqi military statement, 22 ballistic missiles were launched at the Ain al-Assad air base in the western Anbar province that houses American and coalition troops as well as a base in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil.

The statement said two of the 17 missiles at Ain al-Assad did not detonate. The five missiles launched in Erbil targeted US-led coalition headquarters, it added. Neither attack caused any casualties, the military said.

Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi was apparently informed about Iran’s missile strikes in Iraq before they happened, his spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Iran has warned the US that it would target Washington’s neighboring allies Israel and the United Arab Emirates if a retaliatory attack occurs on Iranian soil.

US President Donald Trump explained on Wednesday that the Iranian missile attacks that targeted two bases that host US troops had done limited damage, and he would respond accordingly—not with a military strike, but with yet more economic sanctions.