Trump to make official statement on Iran missile attacks on Wednesday

US President Donald Trump will make an official statement on Wednesday morning on the Iranian missile attacks against military facilities in the west of Iraq, which host US-led coalition personnel.

کد خبر: ۹۵۰۰۳۶

تاریخ: ۱۸ دی ۱۳۹۸ - ۰۹:۲۵

"All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq," Trump wrote in his Tweeter account.

"Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!" the US president stated.

"I will be making a statement tomorrow morning," Trump added.

Assistant to the US Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement on early Wednesday that "Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq," adding that "missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil."

The statement did not specify the damage or casualties following the missile attacks on the facilities with Hoffman saying: "We are working on initial battle damage assessments."

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officially claimed the responsibility for the missile attacks stating that US forces, which are involved in acts of aggression against Iran, would be subjected to military attacks.

Iran’s news agency ISNA quoted a statement from the IRGC as saying that the operation in Iraq was code-named ‘Martyr Soleimani.’

The situation in the Middle East deteriorated sharply after the Pentagon announced on January 3 that Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the elite wing of the Iranian military) General Qasem Soleimani had been killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad airport. The missile strike came on order of US President Donald Trump.

According to the US Administration, the operation was defensive, as it was aimed at protecting US troops stationed in the Middle East. According to Washington, the attacks planned by the Iranian general could have led to the deaths of hundreds of Americans and Iraqis.

After the attack, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council vowed at an emergency session to exact "severe revenge" on those involved in the killing of Soleimani, blaming the US for the attack.