Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirm rocket attack on US forces in Iraq

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps confirmed on Wednesday that it fired rockets at a US air base in Iraq in revenge for the killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, according to a statement.

The group urged Washington to recall its troops from the region “in order to avoid further losses and not to allow the lives of their soldiers to be further threatened by the ever-growing hatred” of the US.

The statement also warned regional allies of the United States that they will be attacked if their countries are used for attacks against Iran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also said that any retaliatory measures by the United States against Tehran’s missile attacks on American targets in Iraq would draw a renewed response, state television reported.

“Americans know now that their bases can be targeted by Iran ... Their bases will be targeted if the United States responds to Iran’s missile attacks in Iraq,” state TV cited the Guards as saying.

A senior official in Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office said Iran’s response to the killing of its top commander Qassem Soleimani so far had been the “weakest” of the Iranian revenge scenarios, state TV reported.

“First step,” says Revolutionary Guards commander

Iran’s missile attacks on US targets in Iraq was the first step and Tehran will not spare American troops, Iranian state TV quoted a Revolutionary Guards commander as saying on Wednesday.

“The missile attacks today were just the first step (US President Donald) should think about withdrawing its troops from the region and not to leave them within our reach,” Iranian state TV quoted the commander as saying, without naming him.