© Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via APIn this Sept. 18, 2016 file photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Revolutionary Guard commanders in Tehran, Iran.
Several rockets have landed at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.
At least seven people, including senior officials with the Iran-backed militia, have reportedly been killed in an apparent US air strike.
There have been conflicting reports as to how the incident unfolded, with the Iraqi security media cell reporting that three rockets came down inside the airport perimeter, near the air cargo terminal, early Friday morning local time. The resulting explosions set two vehicles alight, injuring civilians, it said.
However, the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said that
two of its vehicles in a convoy passing by the airport were struck, in what apparently was a high-precision attack by the US forces.
The umbrella group of Shia militias integrated into the Iraq's armed forces was blamed for the siege of the US embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.
Muhammad Reza Al-Jabri, director of public relations at the PMF, was reportedly killed in the strike. The two vehicles were captured on video burning on the road leading to the airport.
Hours after the attack,
the PMF confirmed the death of its PR director, calling the alleged retaliatory sortie a "cowardly US bombing," according to Reuters.
Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces, was killed in the raid as well.
A total of five militia members and two "important guests" perished in the attack, Reuters reported.
One of the guests was apparently the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani. A spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces, confirmed his demise to Reuters, blaming "the American and Israeli enemy" for his killing.
There have been unconfirmed reports of injuries among Iraqi military forces.
The incident forced the airport into an immediate shutdown.
All inbound and outbound flights at the airport have been cancelled or diverted for the time being.The airport is located next to the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC), which is used by diplomats and intelligence operatives, as well as the US-led anti-terrorist coalition forces in Iraq. The area is also home to the joint counter-terrorism center.
The strikes come amid soaring tensions between Tehran and Washington over recent events in Iraq. A US air raid on an Iraqi Shia militia last weekend triggered a heated demonstration at the US embassy complex in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Tuesday. Protesters smashed windows, set fires and chanted anti-American slogans. Washington insisted the raid was in retaliation for a militia rocket attack on a US base in Kirkuk, and that Iran provided backing for the assault, though offering no evidence for the claim.
Comment: The neocons and the Israelis are, no doubt, dancing. Warhawk Bolton hopes it's "
the first step to regime change" in Iran. As are stupid Americans, who, in their misplaced patriotism, don't understand that they are celebrating the death of a man
Israel wants them to believe is The Global Terrorist, but was in fact The Leading Slayer of Terrorists.
They are itching for major war, and doing everything possible to get it. It is now down to Iranian restraint to avoid that happening. But you can bet they will be seeking retaliation, whether overt or asymmetric. This is BIG news. Soleimani is a legend in Iran, and among the "axis of resistance" from Yemen to Lebanon and from Syria to Afghanistan.
This is American belligerence and arrogance on full display. And total, utter stupidity - especially after the Americans already angered Iraqis, and their government, by violating their sovereignty earlier this week with a unilateral attack on Shia fighters, which led to the embassy riot.
What the hell do they think will be the reaction to a high-profile assassination on Iraqi soil? Are they TRYING to start another insurgency? It is completely reckless.
Iran has vowed
to retaliate.
The Pentagon has officially
claimed responsibility:
"At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani," the Pentagon said in a statement.
"This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and interests wherever they are around the world."
The Pentagon said that the assassination was a response to "attacks on coalition bases in Iraq," accusing Soleimani of being the mastermind behind a recent spate of missile attacks on joint US and Iraqi military installations. In particular, the Pentagon blamed Soleimani for orchestrating the December 27 rocket strike at a US base in Kirkuk that killed one American contractor as well as "approving" the siege of the US embassy in Baghdad that almost ended up in the compound's takeover by protesters furious over the US strikes that killed 25 members of Kataib Hezbollah, part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), over the weekend.
This is truly an Israeli level of mendacity. It is incitement, pure and simple. It will not deter any future attacks - it will inspire them.
Oil prices immediately
spiked 4%.
RFE/RL reports:
The U.S. military confirmed the attack shortly after President Donald Trump tweeted out a U.S. flag in his first Twitter posting in almost 13 hours.
The Pentagon said Trump had approved the attack in the morning of January 2.
Unconfirmed reports said at least one member of Lebanon's Hizballah movement was also killed in the attack.
Tucker Carlson - an actual American patriot - is
maintaining a level head and refusing to join the mindless war-mob in their puffing and gloating over this brazen murder, a rare thing in the United States today. (Unlike, for example, Iran-Contra criminal
Oliver North, who is calling the murder "a good thing for every American and every freedom-loving person.")
Russia has labelled the US operation
"an adventurous move that will lead to an escalation of tension throughout the region," before
saluting Soleimani for the patriot he was:
"Soleimani served devotedly the cause of defending the national interests of Iran. We express our sincere condolences to the Iranian people."
The Russian MoD
added:
"The short-sighted steps by the United States that resulted in the killing of Qasem Soleimani lead to a sharp escalation of the military-political situation in the Middle East region and to serious negative consequences for the entire global security system", the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that long before the US-led coalition, Soleimani had organised armed resistance to the Daesh* terrorist group and al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq.
"His personal merits in fighting against Daesh on Syrian territory are unquestionable", it said.
Trump has managed to demolish in one fell swoop the myth that 'Iranians are poised to rise up against their regime'. Here's the crowd this morning - in just one small city, Soleimani's hometown - mourning his death:
Contrast the above with Trump's ignorant tweet:
Columnist Pepe Escobar
comments:
EXCEPTIONALIST COWARDS DETONATE THE RAGING TWENTIES WITH - WHAT ELSE - SUPREME COWARDICE
We knew it was coming. There were rumbles in Israeli media. There were threats by the Pentagon. We discussed it in detail in Umbria last week. I received worried messages from Iran. We were discussing it last night till late, here in Sicily. They are SOOOO predictable. It does not matter whether Trump ordered it or the Deep State ordered him to order it, or the usual suspects ordered them all. They want war on Iran - and there cannot be a more hardcore provocation than this. Khamenei knows it and already said there WILL be blowback - and it will be nasty.
I met Mohandes in Baghdad two years ago - as well as many Hashd al-Shaabi members. The Deep State is absolutely terrified they are on the way to becoming a new Hezbollah, as powerful as Hezbollah. And Soleimani of course humiliated the whole of the Deep State over and over again - and could eat all of them for breakfast and lunch and dinner as a military strategist. Tehran has to be extremely clever in their response. Blowback by a thousand cuts is the way to go. Hit the Exceptional Cowards where it really hurts.
This is the way the Raging Twenties begin: not with a bang, but a cowardly whimper.
Trump has followed up his flaccid US flag tweet with another one of those cryptic 'maybe it's 4D chess, who knows?!' tweets:
What the hell does that even
mean?
Iran has already appointed Soleimani's deputy as head of the Iranian Quds Force (IRCG),
Esmail Qaani.
Here's a hint that Iran will
not be doing anything rash in response to this cowardly attack, PressTV
reports:
Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri has warned that the US will end up being "the main losers in this dangerous game in the region," saying that those following the path paved by Soleimani will "push away the fire of war, terrorism and division from the region. The name of Soleimani struck fear in the hearts of the enemies of the independence and freedom of Muslim nations," Jahangiri said, adding that Soleimani was an inspiration and cause for hope among the "truth-seekers" and "downtrodden" of the world.
Another is that Iran is going through formal channels to denounce the US, telling Swiss diplomatic staff, who represent US interests in Iran, that they
condemn the attack as 'state terrorism'. Whether it's that or an 'act of war', it's certainly barbarian, and highly risky. Why would others, going forwards, feel compelled to
not attack senior US leaders anywhere they touch down in the world?
Iraq's sort-of equivalent to Soleimani, Muqtada al-Sadr - who does NOT want Iraq to become a vassal of Iran's - isn't taking any chances and has
ordered forces under his command to prepare for the worst. Iraq's formal govt, meanwhile, via caretaker leader Adil Abdul Mahdi,
said the US operation was a
"flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty" and an insult to the dignity of his country:
Mahdi
stressed that the US had violated the terms under which American troops are allowed to stay in Iraq: they're supposed to be there to train Iraqi troops and FIGHT, not help, ISIS.
Photos of the wreckage left by yesterday's airstrike, which the Iraqis say was conducted using helicopters:
The Iraqi parliament is to hold an emergency session to discuss an appropriate response. Will they elect to vote the Americans out? Meanwhile, the Pentagon is
sending another 4,000 US troops to Kuwait.
The US too is assuming the worst in Iraq,
telling all American civilians to flee the country ASAP. We highly recommend that all US military personnel do likewise. It's one thing containing an Iraqi insurgency by splitting it along sectarian lines, as they did in '06, but containing a joint multi-million man Shia Iraqi-Iranian insurgency would be a whole other ball-game.
We don't think this gross provocation will spark war, conventional or nuclear. The way Soleimani talked about martyrdom on the rare occasions when he did speak, he probably expected to be martyred himself sooner or later. In fact, almost a decade ago, Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, called Soleimani "a living martyr."
He was 62, and had already 'done his worst' - to the US, Israel and their Arab toadies - by setting in motion the 'Shia Crescent' (more accurately, a non-denominational, multi-national, multi-regional, anti-chaos movement).
Iran just needs to stick to the path Soleimani helped pave, and it will be victorious in the long-run. Last week it participated in an event for the ages:
joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean with the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. One 'theocracy', one 'democracy', and one 'autocracy' - all united by common interest: a new multi-polar world following half a millennium of authoritarian, hierarchical, and domineering Western hegemony.
As for the US, it gets more repulsive by the day, by its own actions, so everyone around the world who yearns to 'send Yankee home' just needs to continue strengthening bonds with like-minded people.
A quote attributed to Soleimani:
"We're not like the Americans. We don't abandon our friends."
Quotes about Soleimani, made by senior Iraqi officials:
"He is so short, but he has this presence. There will be ten people in a room, and when Soleimani walks in he doesn't come and sit with you. He sits over there on the other side of room, by himself, in a very quiet way. Doesn't speak, doesn't comment, just sits and listens. And so of course everyone is thinking only about him."
"All of the important people in Iraq go to see him. People are mesmerised by him - they see him like an angel."
UPDATE 19:00 CETIranian President Rouhani has made the following
statement:
"Soleimani's martyrdom will make Iran more decisive to resist America's expansionism and to defend our Islamic values. With no doubt, Iran and other freedom-seeking countries in the region will take revenge," Rouhani said in a statement, adding that the killing will only strengthen Iran's resolve in resisting the US.
"Undoubtedly, such a villainous and cowardly measure is another sign of the US' frustration and incapability in the region and signifies the regional nations' aversion to this aggressive regime," the president noted.
Unlike their cheerleading of Trump's Syria airstrikes, Democrats are actually
criticizing Trump for his latest bit of war-mongering. Biden called the strikes "hugely escalatory" and likely to cause future Iranian attacks. Pelosi, Sanders, Warren, Schiff too. Republican war whores like Rubio and Graham are praising the assassination.
International reaction is generally appalled at the US 'executive action'. So far the only country really supporting the move is Israel...
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears to be trying to do a little damage-control after the killing,
saying the US "remains committed to de-escalation." Assassinating a foreign leader doesn't seem like the kind of action a country committed to de-escalating tensions would undertake, but here we are in the 20s with an fading empire desperately trying to maintain global dominance.
The UN's top expert on extrajudicial executions pointed out the attack violated international law (as if that ever stopped the Americans/Israelis):
Tehran has
deployed its F-14 fighters in response to the attack.
UPDATE 20:30 CETTrump has tweeted again. The dotard claims that Soleimani is responsible for the deaths of "millions" of people, including "thousands" of Americans, which apparently means his assassination is just fine:
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatullah Khamenei has sent a
message to all Iranians on the "magnificent martyrdom" of Soleimani:
In the Name of God, the Most Graceful and the Most Merciful,
Dear Iranian Nation,
The great and honorable commander of Islam became heavenly. Last night, the pure spirits of martyrs collectively embraced the purified the soul of Qasem Suleimani. Years of sincere and brave struggles and fights in battlefields with the evil and nefarious forces of the world, and years of yearning to be killed in the path of God finally elevated beloved Suleimani to this prominent status: His purified blood was spilt in the hands of the most wretched and the most pathetic among humanity.
I congratulate this magnificent martyrdom to "The Everlasting Proof of God" [Imam Mahdi (pbuh)] and to the pure soul of the martyr himself. And to the nation of Iran, I offer my condolences.
He was an excellent example of those educated in Islam and Imam Khomeini's school of thought. He spent his entire life fighting in the cause of God.
Martyrdom was his reward for all these years of struggle. With his departure, with God's Will and Help, his path will neither be stopped nor closed. However, a severe retaliation awaits the criminals who painted their corrupt hands with his and his martyred companions' blood last night.
Martyr Suleimani is an international face to the Resistance and all lovers of the Resistance share a demand in retaliation for his blood. All friends - as well as all enemies - must know the path of Fighting and Resistance will continue with double the will and the final victory is decidedly waiting for those who fight in this path. The loss of our selfless and beloved commander is bitter but the continuation of the fight and the achievement of the final victory will leave a more bitter taste for the culprits and the criminals.
Iranian nation will commemorate the name and memory of the high status martyr, Commander Lieutenant General Qasem Suleimani and his martyred companions, especially the great warrior of Islam, His Excellency Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. I announce 3 days of mourning in the country and to the beloved wife, children, and family.
I offer my congratulations and condolences.
Seyyed Ali Khamenei
13 Dey, 1398
For the rest of SOTT's coverage of the assassination, see the following (starting with the latest):
I've previously comment upon the impeccably 'You Don't Wanna F W Me' - 'look' of the guy in the first pic.
If the US killed - or even allowed - any harm to that ainfully obvious (visually) patriot - damn it! I have no penance to giive.
I pray - RIGHT NOW- that that man remains OK. . . . Done.
I guess.and fear that there remains "No Country for Old Men,"
R.C.