Iran Launches Missile & Cyber Attacks On The US
Iran has carried out a ballistic missile attack on air bases housing US forces in Iraq, in retaliation for the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani. Following the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani on Friday January 2nd by a deadly drone strike, it now looks like the United States and Iran are at war.
Over the following weekend, the cyber war began with threat actors defaced the website of the US Federal Depository Program (FDLP).
Iran is claiming to have inflicted significant US casualties but this does not appear to be the case. The US says that its radars provided warning of the attacks and the Iranian missiles appear to have landed in areas where there were no US forces present.
Iran struck back at the United States early on Wednesday 8th January for killing a top Revolutionary Guards commander, firing a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American troops in a major escalation between the two longtime foes.It was Iran’s most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the US. More than a dozen missiles launched from Iran struck two air bases in Irbil and Al Asad, west of Baghdad. It is unclear if there have been any casualties.
The initial response from Washington has been muted. President Trump tweeted and said casualties and damage were being assessed.
Two Iraqi bases housing US and coalition troops were targeted, one at Al Asad and one in Irbil, at about 02:00 local time on Wednesday (22:30 GMT on Tuesday). It came just hours after the burial of Soleimani, who controlled Iran's proxy forces across the Middle East.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the attack was "a slap in the face" for the US and called for an end to the US presence in the Middle East.
This is the most direct assault by Iran on the US since the seizing of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in retaliation for the death of Soleimani on Friday. He was killed in a missile strike outside Baghdad airport on the orders of President Trump and the Iranians warned US allies that their bases could also be targeted.
Iran's Defence Minister Amir Hatami said Iran's response to any US retaliation would be proportional to the US action.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the attack was self-defence and denied seeking to escalate the situation into war.
The killing of Soleimani, a national hero to many in Iran, and strikes by Tehran came as tensions have been rising steadily across the Mideast after Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
They also marked the first time in recent years that Washington and Tehran have attacked each other directly rather than through proxies in the region.
It has raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two enemies, who have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.
Adding to the chaos and overall jitters, a Ukrainian airplane carrying at least 170 people crashed outside Tehran on Wednesday morning, killing all on board, state TV reported. The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport and mechanical issues were suspected, according to reports.
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