Live updates: Trump says he will make statement Wednesday in response to Iranian strike at two bases in Iraq
Iranian forces have launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday evening, marking the most significant Iranian attack in the growing conflict with the United States.
The al-Asad air base in western Iraq, which houses some American troops, was hit by at least six missiles about midnight Wednesday, according to a U.S. defense official familiar with the situation.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said officials are aware of reports of attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, and added that President Trump was “monitoring the situation closely.”
The strike comes as U.S. officials have defended Trump’s decision to kill Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in an airstrike in Baghdad last week. Iranian leaders stepped up calls Tuesday for revenge against the United States as Iranian authorities prepared to bury Soleimani in his hometown of Kerman, a southeastern city. Early on Tuesday, authorities were forced to suspend the burial proceedings after a stampede killed dozens of mourners.
Here’s what we know so far:
● Iranian forces have launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq.
● Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper met with President Trump at the White House following the attack. The president will not make remarks tonight.
● Esper said the United States will not be withdrawing troops from Iraq. The Trump administration is drawing up potential sanctions against Iraq, in the event that its leaders go through with plans to order the expulsion of U.S. troops for Soleimani’s killing on Iraqi soil.
● Iranian state news agencies reported that at least 50 people died and more than 200 were injured in the stampede at the funeral for Soleimani.
Warren and other Democrats call for de-escalation, voice concern for U.S. troops
News of Iran’s strike broke as a crowd of more than 4,000 waited for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at a rally in Brooklyn Tuesday night. As soon as she took the stage, Warren said she wanted to open on a “very sober note.”
“For any of you who haven’t been able to follow it, within the last hour, the Iranian government has announced that it has sent missiles to attack our military bases in Iraq,” she said. “My three brothers all served in the military. … My heart and my prayers are with our military and with their families in Iraq and around the world. This is a reminder of why we need to de-escalate tension in the Middle East. The American people do not want a war with Iran.”
Former Obama administration housing chief Julián Castro, who was in Brooklyn to introduce Warren at their first joint event since his endorsement of her, also opened with mention of the airstrikes.
“I wanted to just begin by saying that tonight we’re thinking about our men and women in uniform, especially those who are stationed in Iraq. And we’re praying for their safety,” he said.
Castro, who went on to also mention the massive earthquake that had caused widespread damage in Puerto Rico, said developments on the island and in Iraq were “two very powerful and poignant reminders of why all of us have a role to play: engaging in our democracy, voting, and ushering in new leadership in 2020 with a new president.”
Several of the other Democratic White House candidates took to Twitter to voice concern for U.S. troops in Iraq in the wake of the Iranian strike.
“Tonight, Americans in Iraq are under fire,” former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg said. “My prayers are with them, their loved ones, and their families.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) said that the United States “must do all we can to protect our servicemembers and Americans at risk.”
Klobuchar did not attend a previously scheduled fundraiser in Washington Tuesday night due to the Iranian strike.
Military unclear if there were U.S. casualities in attacks on two military bases
A defense official said that U.S. military did not yet have clear information about whether there had been American casualties in the attacks on the two sites in Iraq.
One U.S. military official, reached for comment earlier Tuesday evening, said U.S. troops were still assessing what happened.
Kerry says Trump risks bringing U.S. into ‘reckless war of choice’
WASHINGTON — Speaking to NBC News on the sidelines of an event for former vice president Joe Biden in Iowa, former secretary of state John F. Kerry called for the Trump administration to respond to Iran’s strike with diplomacy rather than military action.“I think it’s a tragedy for the world that instead of diplomacy, this administration has rushed to confrontation,” Kerry said. “If this develops into a tit-for-tat, increased effort, it will become a war that is needless, it didn’t have to happen, and it will be a reckless war of choice by the president of the United States.”
Biden says he prays Trump is listening to his military commanders
WASHINGTON — At a fundraiser near Philadelphia on Tuesday night, former vice president Joe Biden briefly addressed the news of the Iranian airstrikes.
“What’s happening in Iraq and Iran today was predictable — not exactly what’s happening, but the chaos that’s ensuing,” Biden said, pointing to the Soleimani strike and Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“Some of the things he’s done and said in the meantime have been close to ludicrous, including threatening to bomb holy sites,” Biden said of Trump. He added: “And I just pray to God, as he goes through what’s happening, as we speak, that he’s listening to his military commanders for the first time, because so far that has not been the case.”
Trump met with Pompeo and Esper at White House, will not make remarks tonight
WASHINGTON — President Trump will not make remarks Tuesday night following Iranian forces launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. No other administration officials will speak about the attacks either, she said.
It is possible the White House will release a statement and Trump could always tweet about the attacks.
Trump met at the White House on Tuesday night with Pompeo and Esper, according to a senior administration official.
Trump has warned Iran not to retaliate after the United States killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in an airstrike in Baghdad last week.
“If Iran does anything that they shouldn’t be doing, they’re going to be suffering the consequences, and very strongly,” Trump told reporters earlier Tuesday during a meeting with Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Representative to Iran’s supreme leader appears to mimic Trump’s tweet
WASHINGTON — Moments after a military base was struck by missiles in Iraq, Saeed Jalili, a representative to Iran’s supreme leader, tweeted a photo of Iran’s flag.
The tweet appears to be mimicking President Trump, who tweeted a photo of the American flag following reports that an airstrike had killed Soleimani.
Irbil military base targeted in missile attack is major hub for U.S. and coalition military activity
Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan region, is a major hub for U.S. and coalition military activity in Iraq and also an important launching point for the parallel mission against the Islamic State in neighboring Syria.
Many U.S. forces pass through Irbil on their way in and out of a network of much smaller bases in Syria. During the peak of the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, military officials also oversaw a major battle in the nearby city of Mosul from Irbil. The city, like most of Iraqi Kurdistan, has been considered safer for U.S. personnel than other parts of Iraq.
Obama administration officials caution restraint for U.S. response to Iranian attack
WASHINGTON — Some former Obama administration officials argued on Twitter on Tuesday night that the size and scope of the Iranian attack so far does not merit a military response from the United States.
Ilan Goldenberg, a Middle East security director at the Center for a New American Security, tweeted: “NO. NO. NO. He doesn’t have to respond especially if casualties are limited.” Goldenberg previously oversaw Iran policy for the Obama administration in the Pentagon.
Philip Carter, another former Obama administration official who also served in Iraq as an Army officer, said that short-range missile attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq were “commonplace” when he was deployed.
“Granted, this is much different; firing short-range missiles from Sadr City ≠ firing medium-range missiles from Iran,” tweeted Carter, who now studies national security for the Rand Corp. “But let’s try to have all tactical patience here and keep our cool.”
Report details Iran’s history with ballistic missiles
WASHINGTON — Iran first launched ballistic missiles in 1985, during its war with Iraq, according to the annual “Iran Power Report” released by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The agency assessed that Iran could reach well into Iraq even with its short-range missiles, and strike as far away as Greece and Turkey with its long-range missiles.
Iran has a limited and aging air force, mostly comprised of decades-old American planes and Russian aircraft from the 1990s.
Pentagon considers the use of ballistic missles one of Iran’s three core capabilities
WASHINGTON — In using ballistic missiles, Iran relied on what the Pentagon considers one of its three core capabilities. In a briefing held in November, a senior defense analyst focused on Iran told reporters at the Pentagon that the missiles constituted a primary component of Tehran’s strategic deterrent.
“Lacking a modern air force, Iran has embraced ballistic missiles as a long-range strike capability to dissuade its adversaries from attacking Iran,” said the official, Christian Saunders. “Iran also has the largest missile force in the Middle East, with substantial inventory of close-range ballistic missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles that can strike targets throughout the region as far as 2,000 kilometers away.”
The Pentagon assessed that Iran will deploy an increasing number of “more accurate and lethal ballistic missiles,” and continue to improve its existing missile inventory while also fielding new land-attack cruise missiles.
Recent photographs showed U.S. service members training at al-Asad in preparation for possible mass-casualty situation
WASHINGTON — Photographs recently released by the Defense Department show that U.S. and coalition service members at al-Asad have held training in recent days to prepare for the possibility of a mass-casualty situation. The installation is about 100 miles west of Baghdad, and also home to the Iraqi Army’s 7th Division.
House foreign affairs chairman calls for both sides to ‘tone down the rhetoric’
WASHINGTON — In an interview on CNN, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) called for a de-escalation in tensions between the United States and Iran and counseled Trump to think things through “very carefully.”
“I think what we have to do now is tone down the rhetoric on all sides and try to see how we can sort of extricate ourselves from this nightmare, because I don’t think the American people want to go to war,” Engel said.
He specifically called on Trump not to “exacerbate the situation and make it tit-for-tat.”
“I hope the president and his aides are thinking this one through very carefully. I don’t believe there’s any good ending if we’re in a full-fledged war,” he said.
Pelosi calls for prayer following Iranian missle attack on U.S. air base
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was discussing her plan for articles of impeachment against Trump when she was notified of the Iranian missile attacks on an airbase in Iraq.
The speaker immediately told members to start praying.
Pelosi was huddling with Democratic lawmakers in the basement of the Capitol when she was informed Vice President Pence was on the phone to speak with her. Pelosi told the person she would call him back later, as she had to go open the House from its two-week holiday break.
Someone then handed her a note informing her of the attack on U.S. forces. As she left the room to head up the stairs — where she would soon call back Pence — she told people to pray.
Iran launches more than a dozen missiles against two military bases in Iraq, Pentagon says
WASHINGTON — Iranian forces have launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday evening, marking the most significant Iranian attack in the growing conflict between Iran and the United States.
The attack was launched about 5:30 p.m. Washington time, the Pentagon said.
“It is clear these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel,” the statement said. Al Asad air base in western Iraq and at least one facility in Irbil were targeted.
“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend U.S. personnel, partners, and allies in the region,” the statement said. “Due to the dynamic nature of the situation, we will continue to provide updates as they become available.”
One U.S. military official, reached for comment Tuesday evening, said U.S. troops were still assessing what happened.
“They’re still in bunker mode,” the official said.
The al-Asad air base in Iraq was hit by at least six missiles about midnight local time, said a U.S. defense official familiar with the situation.
The base, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, houses some American troops. Trump on Sunday called it “extraordinarily expensive,” threatening the Iraqi government with sanctions if the United States is told to withdraw all of its troops from Iraq and the government in Baghdad does not pay for it.
It was not immediately clear where on the base the missiles landed or if anyone was harmed. It would appear to mark one of the most aggressive attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq since the Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah launched 31 missiles at a base near Kirkuk on Dec. 27, killing a contractor and wounding several U.S. troops.
The U.S. military launched airstrikes on targets affiliated with Iranian-backed forces two days later.
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claims the ‘harsh revenge’ promised by Iran’s leaders has begun, report says
BEIRUT — The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed that the “harsh revenge” promised by Iran’s leaders has begun, according to the Fars News Agency. The agency said Iran had fired “tens” of ballistic missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq, but that could not be independently confirmed.
In a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the missiles were fired to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani in an operation called “Operation Martyr Soleimani.”
The IRGC also released a video purporting to show the missiles being fired and streaking toward Iraq. U.S. military officials said they had been anticipating a strike of some sort at al-Asad and that personnel at the base had taken precautions. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Deaths at Soleimani funeral show dangers of crowd crush, experts say
WASHINGTON — Soleimani's funeral is not the first time a massive, public gathering ended in a crowd crush. Other mass funerals, along with the hajj pilgrimage, sporting events, festivals and rallies, have seen similar tragedies. But experts and public officials say they are entirely preventable.
G. Keith Still, a crowd safety and risk analysis specialist, said Tuesday’s incident appeared to follow an all-too-common pattern.
“It’s kind of like squeezing toothpaste,” he said. “You get a very high-pressure situation as people are moving through confined spaces. As soon as the density exceeds the physical boundaries … you can develop crowd crushing.”
Still said conditions can start to become dangerous when a crowd grows to more than six or seven people per square meter. A “shock wave” — as people push from behind while those ahead of them are unable to continue at the same pace — can create a deadly pressure cooker.
Read more here.
Trump appears to back away from plan to target Iranian cultural sites
WASHINGTON — In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office ahead of a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Trump defended the strike in which Soleimani was killed, casting it as both a retaliatory and a preventive move against a “monster” who was “planning a very big attack.”
“Ours was an attack based on what they did,” Trump said. “We weren’t the first one out. He killed an American. Now two people are dead from the same attack and some people very badly wounded. And that was one of his smaller endeavors. You look over his past — he’s been called a monster. And he was a monster. … And he was planning a very big attack and a very bad attack for us and other people.”
Trump also appeared to back away from his plan to target Iranian cultural sites, although he suggested that he was not pleased about having to do so.
“They’re allowed to blow up everything that we have and there’s nothing that stops them,” he said. “And we are, according to various laws, supposed to be very careful with their cultural heritage. And you know what, if that’s what the law is, I like to obey the law.”
The president was also asked about the future of U.S. troops in Iraq.
“At some point, we want to get out, but this isn’t the right point,” he said, adding that the United States would want to be reimbursed for costs related to fighting the Islamic State militant group.
Contractor identifies employee killed in rocket attack that prompted U.S. retaliation
WASHINGTON — U.S. defense firm Valiant Integrated Services on Tuesday identified a contractor killed in a rocket attack in Iraq last month as its employee Nawres Hamid.
Hamid was killed Dec. 27 when as many as 30 rockets were fired at a military compound in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq. Several U.S. and Iraqi service members were wounded in the attack, which prompted the United States to ramp up its retaliation against Iran-backed militias in Iraq ahead of the Friday drone strike that killed Soleimani.
A company official declined to provide more details about Hamid, or say whether he was a U.S. citizen, but confirmed that he was killed in the Kirkuk attack.
“Mr. Hamid was a consummate professional and highly committed member of the Valiant team who was cherished and valued by his colleagues,” a statement released by the company said. “We offer our sincerest condolences to his family.”
U.S. troops will not be withdrawing from Iraq, Esper tells reporters
WASHINGTON — Esper reaffirmed Tuesday that U.S. troops will not be withdrawing from Iraq, saying that a letter sent by the U.S. commander in Baghdad to Iraqi officials “has no value” and that the Trump administration wants a continued U.S. presence.
Esper, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon for the second day in a row, called the letter a “draft.” He said that he had asked whether a signed copy had been sent to Iraqi officials and that, “to the best of my knowledge,” it had not.
However, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who resigned in November but is operating in a caretaker capacity, said earlier in the day in Baghdad that he had received a copy. A U.S. military official with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, also said Tuesday that a signed copy was sent.
The letter does not say explicitly that the U.S. military will withdraw forces, but it appears to leave open the possibility. Marine Brig. Gen. William H. Seely III wrote in it that U.S. forces “will be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement” and that “we respect your sovereign decision to order our departure.”
Esper said Tuesday that “there may be some people trying to create confusion” in regard to the letter.
On Monday, the Pentagon’s top officer, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, said sending the letter was “a mistake.”
McConnell says Trump remarks about Iranian cultural sites ‘not appropriate’
WASHINGTON — “That is not appropriate,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters Tuesday afternoon, referring to Trump’s calls for targeting cultural sites. McConnell said that he wanted to associate himself with the views of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper on the matter.
McConnell made his comments unprompted at the top of his first news conference of the new year, before even being asked a question. However, McConnell also defended the president’s handling of the killing of Soleimani, telling reporters that he did not expect the “Gang of Eight” to be notified before action was taken.
“When President Obama took out Osama bin Laden, I was not told in advance, I was called by the VP afterwards and my response was, you did the right thing,” he said. “Where is the applause on the other side for the killing of one of the heinous killers who ever walked the earth? It’s mind-boggling.”
NATO moving troops out of Baghdad’s Green Zone, citing safety concerns
BAGHDAD — NATO has begun moving troops out of Baghdad’s Green Zone to other locations in Iraq and the broader region, citing a need to keep their personnel safe.
“In everything that we do, the safety of our personnel is paramount,” a NATO official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with organizational protocol. “We have temporarily suspended our training on the ground, and we are taking all precautions necessary to protect our people. This includes the temporary repositioning of some personnel to different locations both inside and outside of Iraq.”
Military officials reported that the drawdown had already started, with helicopters evacuating a first wave of personnel overnight.
The NATO mission in Iraq is focused on training Iraqi security forces fighting remnants of the Islamic State. Experts warn that the fallout from Soleimani’s death will imperil the fight against the Islamist militants just as they try to regroup.
“We are prepared to continue our training and capacity-building when the situation permits,” the NATO official said.
Biden calls for evidence of ‘imminent threat,’ says Trump is ‘dangerously incompetent’
NEW YORK — Former vice president Joe Biden on Tuesday significantly escalated his criticism of Trump’s decision to authorize the killing of Soleimani, saying that his words and actions are exacerbating tensions in the Middle East.
“Make no mistake, this outcome of strategic setbacks, heightened threats, chants of ’death to America’ once more echoing across the Middle East, Iran and its allies vowing revenge — this was avoidable,” said Biden, who is running for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, in a 20-minute speech.
Calling Trump “dangerously incompetent,” Biden, said that “his constant mistakes and poor decision-making have left the United States with severely limited options left to take. And most of those options are bad.”
He also called on the president to explain his decision to the American public, saying, “If there was an imminent threat that required this extraordinary action, we’re owed an explanation, and the facts to back it up.”
Biden said the seeds of the problems were rooted in Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which was crafted under the Obama administration, and revive sanctions.
“A president who says he wants to end endless war in the Middle East is bringing us dangerously close to starting a new one,” Biden said. “An administration that claims its actions have made Americans safer in the same breath urges them to leave Iraq because of increased danger.”
Iraqi prime minister says withdrawal of troops would ease tensions
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister told his cabinet Tuesday that the withdrawal of foreign troops was now the only way to de-escalate spiraling tensions.
While the Pentagon insists that a letter regarding the departure of troops was sent in error to the Iraqi government last night, Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi said that its contents had been heeded, and withdrawal was now a necessity.
Iraq’s parliament has urged Abdul Mahdi to expel foreign troops, reflecting widespread anger over the U.S. decision to kill Soleimani on a VIP side road near Baghdad International Airport.
Addressing his cabinet in its first meeting since the strike, the prime minister sounded exasperated over the notion that the United States had not intended to officially notify him that a troop withdrawal had begun.
“They said it’s a draft,” he said. “Okay, it’s a draft — but we received it. … If I don’t trust you and you don’t trust me, how are we supposed to proceed?”
Abdul Mahdi also contradicted a claim by Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the letter was in fact an unsigned planning draft discussing new deployments. Instead, he said, it had been signed by U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. William Seely, and was translated for him twice in one evening.
Saudi Arabia told Trump that stability and support for Iraq were needed, Saudi prince says
WASHINGTON — Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman carried a message from his brother, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, when he met with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, according to the Saudi royal.
In a message to The Washington Post, the prince said he had “emphasized the importance of upholding stability in the region after recent events in Iraq” and voiced the Saudi desire to partner with the United States to that end.
“The kingdom emphasizes the need to support the brotherly Iraqi people, in order to overcome current challenges,” he said.
Canada to temporarily move some military personnel from Iraq to Kuwait
TORONTO — Canada will temporarily move some of its military personnel from Iraq to Kuwait in the coming days, the country’s chief of the defense staff said Tuesday.
“Simply put, we are doing this to ensure their safety and security,” said Gen. Jonathan Vance in a letter to Canadians that the Canadian Forces shared on Twitter.
The announcement came after the NATO mission and U.S.-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State temporarily suspended their missions in Iraq. Approximately 500 Canadians have been deployed to support both missions.
“Despite the operational pause in Iraq, our mission in the Middle East carries on with multiple other operations in the region,” Vance said. “Naturally, the work we are doing on these missions, and the future of operations in Iraq, remain conditional on maintaining a sufficiently secure and productive operational environment.”
Trump meets with senior Saudi official at White House
WASHINGTON — Trump discussed heightened U.S.-Iranian tensions with a senior Saudi official at the White House this week, the Saudi government said Tuesday, in the wake of the Trump administration’s targeting of Soleimani.
In a brief visit to Washington on Monday, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States who currently serves as deputy defense minister, met with Trump, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Defense Secretary Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Saudi government said in a statement.
The talks addressed “the joint efforts to reduce tensions and avoid escalations that could further destabilize the region in light of the Iranian regime’s provocations and destabilizing activities,” the statement said.
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo, in his meeting with the Saudi prince, “underscored that the United States does not seek war with Iran and remains committed to de-escalation.”
In recent months, the Pentagon has dispatched additional troops and military assets to Saudi Arabia in the wake of an attack on Saudi oil facilities that U.S. and Saudi officials say was conducted by Iran. The kingdom is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
Authorities prepare to bury Iranian commander following delay
ISTANBUL — The funeral for Soleimani resumed Tuesday evening after a stampede among mourners killed at least 50 people earlier in the day.
Iranian news outlets reported that Soleimani’s remains reached the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Kerman. The procession was halted because of overcrowding and the mourners’ deaths.
“The preparations for burial are now in process,” the state-affiliated Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.
The graveyard in Kerman, a city of about half a million people, is in a well-manicured lot near the teal-domed Saheb Zaman mosque. Earlier Tuesday, as mourners gathered to march to the site, the crowd surged near Azadi Square. In the ensuing panic, 50 people were killed and 200 injured.
“Today, I think that there are more than one million people here. The city was definitely not prepared for such a crowd,” a local resident, Morteza, told BBC Persian.
In Yazd, a city northwest of Kerman, residents said schools were ordered closed, and the government sent buses to ferry teachers to the funeral.
Pompeo defends strike decision, says U.S. “got it right”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the Trump administration “got it right” when it launched the airstrike that killed Soleimani last week, raising the risk of reprisal attacks on U.S. targets.
“It was the right decision,” Pompeo said at a news conference at the State Department. “We got it right. The president had an entirely legal, appropriate and a basis [for] a decision that fit perfectly within our strategy of how to counter the threat, the malign activity from Iran.”
Pompeo said he was confident that Trump’s decision to target Soleimani was fully vetted by White House lawyers and that future actions would be legal.
Pompeo grew heated when asked about the growing criticism of Trump’s threat to strike Iranian cultural sites if Iran retaliates, a potential war crime.
“Every action we take will be consistent with the international rule of law,” he said.
“Let me tell you who has done damage to the Persian culture. It’s not the United States of America. It’s the ayatollah.”
Pompeo declined to confirm Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s assertion that he had been denied a visa to come to New York for a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday. Under a 1947 agreement, the United States — as the nation hosting the U.N. headquarters — must issue visas to diplomats on U.N. business, except in cases of security, terrorism and foreign-policy concerns.
“We will always comply with our obligations under the U.N. requirements and the headquarters agreement, and we will do so in this particular instance,” Pompeo said.
But he rejected Zarif’s assertion that Soleimani was in Baghdad on a diplomatic mission.
“Does anybody in here believe that?” he asked sarcastically. “Is there any history that would indicate that it was remotely possible that this kind gentleman, this diplomat of great order, Qasem Soleimani, had traveled to Baghdad for the idea of conducting a peace mission? We know that wasn’t true. We not only know the history, we know in that moment that was not true. Zarif is a propagandist of the first order.”
Iraq’s prime minister is expecting U.S. withdrawal, senior Iraqi officials say
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister is interpreting Monday night’s letter from the U.S. military as a “withdrawal announcement,” even as Pentagon officials describe its sharing as a mistake.
It is unclear how the letter — informing the Iraqi government that troops would be “repositioning” — came to be shared with the country’s premier Abdul Mahdi. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Monday that it was an unsigned planning draft discussing new deployments and “should not have been released.”
But according to senior officials in the Iraqi prime minister’s office, Milley’s comments are not being officially recognized, and the Iraqi government will now request a withdrawal timetable from Washington.
“We don’t deal with statements [made] in the media,” said a senior Iraqi official, referring to Milley’s comments.
“As a state, we deal with the official letters that we receive, and we will act in accordance with this letter,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media. “The prime minister said that there is no way to organize Iraq stably without the withdrawal of foreign forces.”
His account was confirmed by a second official.
According to the prime minister’s office, the letter had to be delivered twice because the Arabic translation in an initial version was identified by Abdul Mahdi as being inaccurate when read side-by-side with the English text. He sent it back, the officials said, and a second translation was returned shortly afterward.
“We will tell the U.S. to put in place a timeline to implement this withdrawal. Of course it’s not going to happen within days or weeks, it will take a while, so of course coordination will continue,” said the first official. “We won against ISIS. Having them [the Americans] here now complicates things more.”
Rare international support for Soleimani killing in Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO — While nearly every U.S. ally has declined to support President Trump’s order to kill Soleimani, the U.S. leader has found support in one surprising location: Brazil.
Shortly after Soleimani’s death was announced, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has made strengthening ties with Trump the fulcrum of his foreign policy, said Brazil stood with “any country in the world in the fight against terrorism.” The comments were then affirmed by the country’s Foreign Ministry, which said Brazil supports “the fight against the scourge of terrorism,” echoing how U.S. officials have characterized the strike against Soleimani.
Then on Monday, even as staunch allies distanced themselves from the strike, Bolsonaro doubled down, saying: “We don’t accept terrorism.”
The statements reflect how completely Bolsonaro has remade foreign policy in Brazil, which was once allied with socialist countries from Cuba to Venezuela. Those days are now gone. Bolsonaro and his allies, who view geopolitics as ideological warfare between the right and left, have pulled closer to the United States — disavowing Venezuela, forcing out Cuban doctors and, now, backing Trump on Iran.
It does so at its own risk. Trump has not been an reliable ally to Bolsonaro. And big money is at stake, with Brazil exporting more than $2 billion worth of goods to Iran.
“This isn’t a game for Brazil to enter,” the newspaper O Globo cautioned Tuesday.
White House press secretary says Trump is ‘on top of everything’
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the president is being “briefed all the time” on Iran and national security matters.
“He’s on top of everything. The country should feel good this president is not going to let anything happen to anyone,” she said during an appearance on Fox News.
“We saved lives here,” she added.
Grisham also said the fact that Trump did not order the attack earlier in his presidency was a show of his restraint.
“For three years now, he’s been very careful, which I think should show this was an imminent danger to some Americans. That is why he acted so decisively,” she said. “He’s very, very careful and very thoughtful, and he weighs all of his options very carefully based on intel.”
She refused to detail the intelligence that led to the U.S. airstrike, saying that members of Congress will be briefed Wednesday but that some information cannot be made public because it is too sensitive.
Putin meets with Syria’s Assad in Damascus
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Syria on Tuesday with President Bashar al-Assad, the Kremlin spokesman said, with the region nervously awaiting the next possible step in the U.S.-Iran showdown.
Putin’s trip — which was not announced in advance — was his first since 2017 to Syria, Moscow’s main Middle East ally. Syria also has close ties to Iran.
The meeting comes amid deepening tensions in the region in the wake of Soleimani’s killing. Iran has vowed to strike back.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not specify that Iran came up in the talks between Putin and Assad. But he noted the presence of Russian forces in Syria, dispatched in 2015 to provide Assad critical help to turn the tide in the country’s civil war.
“The president of Syria expressed his gratitude to Russia and the Russian military for assistance with combating terrorism and rebuilding peaceful life in Syria,” Peskov said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
Putin also visited Russian troops based in Damascus.
‘Gang of Eight’ to receive briefing on Soleimani killing
WASHINGTON — The bipartisan group of senators and House members known as the“Gang of Eight” will receive a briefing on the killing of Soleimani at 4 p.m. Tuesday from CIA Director Gina Haspel, National Security Agency Director Paul M. Nakasone and Joseph Maguire, acting director of national intelligence, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Presidents typically inform the “Gang of Eight” — the House speaker and minority leader, the Senate majority and minority leaders, and the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees — on high-level military operations.
However, top Democratic leaders in Congress have said that they were not informed in advance about the strike.
Time not right for Iran’s Zarif to come to United States, says White House national security adviser
WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser O’Brien said Tuesday that the State Department may have refused to give Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif a visa to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting this week because the timing was not right.
“I don’t think Secretary [Mike] Pompeo thought that this was the right time for Mr. Zarif to come to the United States,” O’Brien told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning.
Zarif told “CBS This Morning” that Pompeo told U.N. Secretary General António Guterres of the U.S. decision. He in turn explained to Zarif “they didn’t have time to review my request,” Zarif said.
Under a 1947 agreement, the United States is required as the host country of the U.N. headquarters to allow entry to foreign diplomats traveling on U.N. business. Zarif had planned to attend a Security Council meeting on Thursday.
The State Department, which had no immediate comment on Zarif’s visa, has granted Zarif visas only reluctantly in the past. During the annual General Assembly meeting in September, visas for Zarif and his traveling party were delayed until the last minute, and they were confined to a few blocks in Manhattan between the U.N. headquarters and the offices of the Iranian mission to the United Nations.
The United States argues that it can make exceptions to the headquarters agreement with the United Nations for reasons of “security, terrorism and foreign policy.” But as the United States and Iran are threatening each other with military reprisals after the U.S. airstrike that killed Suleimani last week, the visa rejection denies Zarif a platform for outlining Tehran’s view of the conflict.
In addition to speaking at the Security Council, Zarif usually conducts interviews with U.S. news outlets, a practice that has irritated Pompeo. He has complained often about the practice and the fact he never has the chance to be interviewed by Iranian state-run media. He has said U.S. reporters should refrain from giving Zarif a platform for propaganda.
Toll rises to 50 in stampede at Iranian commander’s funeral
ISTANBUL — The death toll from a stampede at the funeral of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, rose to 50 Tuesday as officials in Kerman province grappled with the growing influx of casualties.
The panic along the route leading to Soleimani’s burial place also left more than 200 people injured, health officials said. Authorities postponed the rest of the burial ceremony due to overcrowding and the mounting death toll.
The head of Iran’s emergency services, Pirhossein Koulivand, said the stampede occurred at Azadi Square in Kerman city, home to some half a million people and the birthplace of Soleimani. The majority of the victims were men, according Kerman’s head of forensics, Abbas Amian.
Eyewitnesses, speaking to BBC’s Persian-language service, described masses of people crammed into a single street leading to the square.
“The route that they chose was too narrow for this crowd. This is something that could have been prevented,” said one Kerman resident, who was not named.
“The surrounding alleyways were also blocked for different reasons,” he said. “There was no way to go back or to escape through a side street.”
A video published on the Shoma news website showed chaotic scenes of people lying either dead or unconscious on the ground, with fellow mourners scrambling to help the injured. Many appeared lifeless, the color drained from their faces.
“Don’t panic!” one person shouted. Another could be heard calling for water.
“Don’t give them water,” another man said. “Just splash a little bit on their faces.”
Britain says the only winners of a U.S.-Iran war would be the Islamic State and other militants
BERLIN — British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has warned that militants “would be the only winners” of a full-blown war as a result of U.S.-Iran tensions. Raab singled out the Islamic State as having most to gain.
The U.S.-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State has suspended its operations over safety concerns, even though the move is so far only temporary.
Raab’s warning came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement, which called on “all parties to exercise utmost restraint and responsibility.”
Raab reiterated on Tuesday that “if we see a full-blown war it would be very damaging.”
As The Post’s William Booth and Karla Adam reported on Monday, Johnson’s government is trying to perform a balancing act between living up to Britain’s role as a close ally of the United States and widespread disagreement in Britain and across Europe with President Trump’s recent moves on Iran.
Iranian foreign minister: U.S. strike act of ‘state terrorism’
ISTANBUL — The U.S. drone strike that killed Soleimani in Iraq last week was an act of “state terrorism,” Iran’s foreign minister said Tuesday.
In an interview with CNN, Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized President Trump and what he said was the U.S. leader’s lack of respect for international law.
The United States targeted the Iranian Quds Force commander as he left the Baghdad airport in a two-vehicle convoy early Friday. The strike against a senior Iranian official was a major escalation in what had been a simmering conflict between the United States and Iran.
“This is an act of aggression against Iran, and amounts to an armed attack against Iran and we will respond,” Zarif said.
“But we will respond proportionally, not disproportionally. We will respond lawfully,” he continued. “We are not lawless people like President Trump.”
Responding to Iran’s pledge to retaliate, Trump threatened Saturday to target Iranian cultural sites. The United Nations’ top cultural and scientific body, UNESCO, has 22 Iranian cultural sites on its world heritage list.
Trump “has no respect for international law and is prepared to commit war crimes — attacking cultural sites is a war crime,” said Zarif, who was educated in the United States.
Funeral for slain Iranian commander postponed after deadly stampede in hometown
ISTANBUL — The burial of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the slain commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was postponed Tuesday due to severe overcrowding and a deadly stampede, officials said.
A spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a powerful security organ that includes the Quds Force, said that funerals in Soleimani’s hometown, Kerman, were suspended and would be held at a later date. His remarks were carried by the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).
A local official in Kerman, Majid Saeedi, said that emergency responders, the Iranian Red Crescent Society and hospitals in surrounding towns were on alert to receive casualties.
Soleimani, a divisive but popular figure, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad last week. His funeral procession started Saturday in the Iraqi capital and included stops in the shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf, as well as in Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran, Qom and Kerman in Iran.
Earlier Tuesday, throngs of supporters filled the streets of Kerman, home to about half a million people, to accompany the commander’s flag-draped coffin to the local cemetery.
As the crowds grew, a crush of people trampled their fellow mourners.
Because of the traffic, the vehicle carrying Soleimani’s body was stopped in the street leading to the cemetery, ISNA quoted the head of the commander’s funeral committee, Mehdi Sadafi, as saying.
“The Iranian people have done their duty today, and the vast ocean of millions of people attending the funeral have confirmed this,” Revolutionary Guard spokesman Ramadan Sharif said, ISNA reported.
U.S. warns American merchant ships to be cautious near Iranian waters
DUBAI — The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an alert advising U.S. commercial ships to “exercise caution” when passing through waters near Iran, citing the threat from “Iran and its proxies.”
The alert listed the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and the entire Indian Ocean as areas in which to be cautious.
After a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian commander early Jan. 3, the alert said, “the Iranian response to this action, if any, is unknown, but there remains the possibility of Iranian action against U.S. maritime interests in the region.”
A series of incidents occurred during the summer in the narrow waters between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which pass vast amounts of the world’s oil. The incidents included attacks on six commercial vessels and the seizure of three tankers.
Stampede breaks out during funeral in Kerman
ISTANBUL — Dozens of people have been killed in a stampede at the funeral for Soleimani in his hometown of Kerman, the Associated Press reported, quoting state television.
Head of emergency services Pirhossein Koulivand told the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that the stampede was caused by overcrowding. Videos posted on social media showed mourners wailing and attempting to revive fellow marchers who had fallen to the ground.
Earlier Tuesday, footage on state television showed a sea of mourners in the city of roughly 530,000 people.
Germany withdraws training mission from non-Kurdish Iraq regions
BERLIN — Germany has temporarily moved all its military personnel stationed in non-Kurdish Iraqi territory to either Jordan or Kuwait, a German military spokesman said Tuesday.
The announcement came after the U.S.-led international coalition fighting the Islamic State suspended its operations over safety concerns, including the training mission German service members were involved in.
A German military spokesman said the troops that were flown out of the country had been scheduled to leave even before tensions between the United States and Iran escalated, as their rotation was coming to an end.
Due to the heightened tensions, they will not be replaced until further notice. German parliamentary representatives were informed about the decision on Monday.
A total of 35 German service members in the district of Taji and in Baghdad were affected by the order to leave Iraq, which was completed by Tuesday morning. About 110 more German military members are still stationed in Irbil, the regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, the spokesman said.
The German government said it remains open to returning military personnel to Baghdad and other Iraqi bases. “In principle, we stand by the usefulness of this mission,” a military spokesman said. “The fight against the Islamic State is not over and the many achievements we have made need to be secured. The decisive factor will now be the Iraqi government,” he said.
Mourners throng slain commander’s hometown for burial
The popular general, who engineered Tehran’s project building proxy forces across the Middle East, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad last week.
His funeral procession started in Baghdad Saturday and continued to the Iraqi Shiite shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf, as well as the Iranian cities of Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran and Qom.
Kerman, in southeastern Iran, is where the 62-year-old commander was born. Aerial footage broadcast on Iranian state television showed a sea of mourners dressed in black and waving red flags — signifying blood unjustly spilled — as they filled a major artery in the city. Some threw flowers at other items at the funeral cortège as it passed through the crowds.
The masses of mourners in Kerman reflected similar sized crowds in other Iranian cities.
On Monday in Tehran, hundreds of thousands of people turned out in the city in a huge display of grief and anger.
“I went to the funeral because it was important for me to show that I value someone who has sacrificed himself and his family,” said Narges, 45, a housewife in Tehran. She spoke on the condition that her full name not be used so she could discuss freely her views of the commander.
At the same time, she said: “Everyone is talking about revenge, but it is important to have a more measured reaction — something that is equal to what they [the Americans] did.”
Top Iranian security official says 13 retaliation scenarios under consideration, all ‘nightmares’ for U.S.
DUBAI — A top Iranian security official said the country has drawn up 13 scenarios to retaliate for the U.S. slaying of a prominent military commander.
Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s National Security Council, said even the mildest of these options would be a “historical nightmare” for the United States.
He added that the retaliation would “not be limited to a single operation.”
Shamkhani declined to elaborate but specifically mentioned the many U.S. bases near the borders of Iran, saying “we’re aware of their military personnel and equipment.”
The killing of Soleimani by a U.S. airstrike has evoked a flurry of promises of revenge against U.S. targets, though with few specifics.
Iran’s top diplomat says U.S. has denied him a visa to U.N. meeting
ISTANBUL — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tuesday that the United States had denied his request for a visa to attend a meeting at the New York headquarters of the United Nations.
The move appears to violate an agreement the United States made with the United Nations in 1947 requiring the U.S. government to facilitate the entry of foreign officials attending the organization’s meetings.
Zarif, who spoke on the sidelines of a conference in Tehran, said he was invited by the president of the U.N. Security Council to appear at a meeting emphasizing the importance of upholding the U.N. charter.
Zarif is a U.S.-educated diplomat and skilled speaker who is frequently hosted by U.S. think tanks and meets regularly with American and other foreign journalists.
“The visa application was submitted several weeks ago,” said Zarif, whose movements in the United States were previously restricted by the Trump administration.
He accused the administration of attempting to portray the visa request as timed to the aftermath of the U.S. strike against Soleimani.
“That is why their response to us was that they ‘did not have enough time to issue the visa,’” he said. “They fear that someone will reveal the realities for Americans there.”
Head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps promises to set ablaze U.S.-linked locations
DUBAI — The leader of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday at the funeral of a colleague slain by a U.S. airstrike that locations loved by the United States would be set on fire in revenge — a possible reference to Israel.
Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami spoke to hundreds of thousands gathering in the southern Iranian town of Kerman, birthplace of Soleimani, leader of the Guard’s Quds Force.
“We will set fire to the place they love, and they know where that is,” said Salami.Some commentators have suggested that he could have been referring to Israel. As he spoke, the crowd chanted “Death to Israel!”
Since Friday’s killing of Soleimani, Iran’s leadership has repeatedly vowed to exact harsh revenge on U.S. military and political sites. U.S. troops and bases in the region are widely considered to be potential targets.
Soleimani’s body has toured several cities in Iran, including the capital, Tehran, on Monday.
U.S. begin drafting potential sanctions against Iraq
WASHINGTON — Senior administration officials have begun drafting sanctions against Iraq after President Trump publicly threatened the country with economic penalties if it proceeded to expel U.S. troops, according to three people briefed on the planning.
The Treasury Department and White House will probably take a lead role if the sanctions are implemented, the officials said. Such a step would represent a highly unusual move against a foreign ally that the United States has spent almost two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars supporting.
The officials emphasized that talks were preliminary and that no final decision has been made on whether to impose the sanctions.
One of the officials said the plan was to wait “at least a little while” on the sanctions decision to see whether Iraqi officials followed through on their threat to push U.S. troops out of the country.
The discussion about sanctions follow Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani last week. In response to the killing, Iraq’s parliament voted to expel American troops from the country.
U.S. general calls letter to Iraqis an honest mistake
WASHINGTON — After the U.S. military’s letter describing plans to reposition troops within Iraq in preparation for a possible withdrawal leaked, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East. McKenzie told him the draft letter was an honest mistake, “but used other words that were a little more colorful than mistake,” Milley said.
The U.S. military drafted the letter because it is moving forces around the region, within Iraq and from Kuwait into Iraq, and anticipates increased helicopter movement, Milley said, noting that draft letters are often coordinated with partners in advance, but are circulated without the signature of the official sending the communication.
The leaked letter wasn’t signed. Milley said that McKenzie, the top U.S. commander overseeing the Middle East, said the letter should never have happened. “We understand U.S. government policy — nobody is leaving, there’s no onward movement, we got all that. Honest mistake. Draft,” Milley said McKenzie told him.
