New airstrike attack against Iran-backed militia kills 5, official says
Still, the United States said it was sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Middle East, reflecting concern about potential Iranian retaliation for the killing. The U.S. also urged American citizens to leave Iraq "immediately" following the early morning airstrike at Baghdad's international airport that Iran's state TV said killed Soleimani and nine others.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the killing a "heinous crime" and said his country would "take revenge." Iran twice summoned the Swiss envoy, the first time delivering a letter to pass onto Washington.Iranian Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the U.S. attack a "cowardly terrorist action" and said Iran has the right to respond "in any method and any time.
The Defence Department said it killed the 62-year-old Soleimani because he "was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region." It also accused Soleimani of approving orchestrated violent protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Supporters of Friday's strike said it restored U.S. deterrence power against Iran, and Trump allies were quick to praise the action. "To the Iranian government: if you want more, you will get more," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted.
While Iran's conventional military has suffered under 40 years of American sanctions, Iran can strike in the region through its allied forces like Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Yemen's Houthi rebels. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on "the resistance the world over" to avenge Soleimani's killing. Frictions over oil shipments in the Gulf could also increase, and Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has built up a ballistic missile program.
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