Iranian media shared videos of its missile attacks on two U.S. military bases in Iraq on Tuesday night.
Iran’s Fars News Agency showed videos purportedly taken from near the al-Asad military base in Iraq, which captured footage of missiles impacting in the distance.
🚨 ویدئویی که از لحظه برخورد شماری از موشکها با پایگاه عین الأسد منتشر شده است. pic.twitter.com/3IPJHD4Imr
— خبرگزاری فارس (@FarsNews_Agency) January 8, 2020
“Video released from the moment a number of missiles hit the base of al-Asad,” the translated Fars tweet read.
In a Tuesday night press statement, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed more than a dozen missiles were launched against the U.S. al-Asad base in Iraq and another U.S. base in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan regional capital, Erbil.
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed no casualties in the aftermath of the attack during a Wednesday address. This report of no casualties and minimal damage comes in stark contrast to Iranian claims “at least 80 U.S. Army personnel have been killed and around 200 others wounded.”
Other media footage shared on Twitter appeared to show the missiles as they fired from their launch sites in Iran.
Iranian TV showing a
Video of missile launching targeting Ain Al Assad Air Base in Erbil.#Iraq #Iran #Qassem_Suleimani
pic.twitter.com/XMegQClbrI— فيصل ابراهيم الشمري (@Mr_Alshammeri) January 7, 2020
The missile attacks were reportedly coordinated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s (IRGC) aerospace force and the pro-Iranian Kata’ib Hezbollah militia in Iraq.
#BREAKING: According to #IRGC (#Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), its Aerospace Force assisted by #PMU‘s Kataib Hezbollah has launched 9 ballistic missiles and multiple unguided rockets at Ain Al-Asad Air Base in #Iraq during Operation #Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/b1O8tgpi0Q
— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) January 7, 2020
In the week prior to the attack, the Kataib Hezbollah militia had been the target of U.S. airstrikes in retaliation of the militia group’s deadly rocket attacks on U.S. positions in Iraq.
Following those U.S. airstrikes, supporters of the pro-Iranian militias staged attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, setting fires and damaging guard posts at the embassy compound.
The U.S. carried out another airstrike, at the order of President Donald Trump, which killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and members of the pro-Iranian militia groups, while they were traveling in Baghdad.
Iran had threatened “severe revenge” in response to the strike that killed Soleimani. Iran’s ballistic missile strikes on Tuesday appear to have concluded that retaliation.
On Tuesday night, Iranian foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said “Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” against the U.S. following the killing of Soleimani.
Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.
We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 8, 2020
