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| 2 U.S. Bases Hit in Iraq as Iran Says ‘Fierce Revenge’ Has Begun | |
| (about 8 hours later) | |
| BAGHDAD — Iran attacked American forces at two bases in Iraq with a barrage of missiles early Wednesday, Iranian official news media and United States officials said, the start of what Tehran had promised would be retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian commander. | |
| “The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on a Telegram channel. | |
| American officials in Washington said that Iran had fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq where American troops are stationed. | |
| “It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al Asad and Erbil,” Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement. | |
| Iranian news media reported the attack hours after the remains of the commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, were returned to his hometown in Iran for burial amid a huge outpouring of grief and rage at the United States. The funeral procession was so huge and unwieldy that more than 50 people died in a stampede, state media reported, forcing a delay in the burial. | |
| Iranian officials said the attacks on American bases began at 1:20 a.m. — the time General Suleimani was killed by an American drone at the Baghdad airport on Friday. | |
| Some Iranian officials tweeted images of Iranian flags in a pointed rejoinder to President Trump, who tweeted an American flag after General Suleimani was killed. | |
| The White House said in a statement that it was “aware” of attacks on American facilities in Iraq. “The president has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team,” the statement said. | |
| President Trump, who has vowed a strong response to any Iranian attack on American targets, visited military forces at Al Asad in December 2018, making his first trip to troops stationed in a combat zone. | |
| The American killing of General Suleimani, a hero at home but a terrorist to the United States government, has escalated into one of the most dangerous confrontations between the two countries in the four decades of animosity that have followed the Islamic Revolution. | |
| Reports from American intelligence agencies of an imminent attack from Iran intensified throughout the day, and senior officials said they were bracing for some kind of attack against American bases in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East. | |
| As tensions mounted, the president’s top national security advisers met Tuesday afternoon in the White House Situation Room. | |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was meeting with senior Democrats Tuesday evening about Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial when she was handed a note telling her of the Iranian attack on American forces in Iraq. | |
| “We’ve got to pray,” she said, according to Representative Debbie Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, who was in the meeting. | |
| The American base in Erbil has been a Special Operations hub, home to hundreds of troops, logistics personnel and intelligence specialists. Transport aircraft, gunships, and reconnaissance planes have used the airport as an anchor point for operations in both northern Iraq and deep into SyriaThe Iranian missile attack came on a day that began with thousands of Iranians taking to the streets for General Suleimani’s funeral procession, a public mourning marred by a deadly stampede. | |
| The head of Iran’s emergency medical services said that 56 people had died and 213 were injured, the broadcaster IRIB reported on its website, as millions of people flooded the streets of Kerman to witness the procession for General Suleimani. | The head of Iran’s emergency medical services said that 56 people had died and 213 were injured, the broadcaster IRIB reported on its website, as millions of people flooded the streets of Kerman to witness the procession for General Suleimani. |
| Witnesses said on social media and on the BBC’s Persian service that the street leading to the funeral was too narrow to handle the crowd, and that some side streets had been closed off for security reasons, leaving those who were caught in the crush with no place to escape. | Witnesses said on social media and on the BBC’s Persian service that the street leading to the funeral was too narrow to handle the crowd, and that some side streets had been closed off for security reasons, leaving those who were caught in the crush with no place to escape. |
| General Suleimani was killed in an American drone strike in Baghdad last week, and his death has magnified tensions between the United States and Iran, fueling fears of a broader conflict as the two sides trade increasingly dire threats. | General Suleimani was killed in an American drone strike in Baghdad last week, and his death has magnified tensions between the United States and Iran, fueling fears of a broader conflict as the two sides trade increasingly dire threats. |
| The overcrowding and the subsequent stampede in Kerman led the authorities to delay General Suleimani’s burial, the state news media reported. It was unclear when he will be buried. | The overcrowding and the subsequent stampede in Kerman led the authorities to delay General Suleimani’s burial, the state news media reported. It was unclear when he will be buried. |
| Pictures of the procession showed an elaborately decorated truck bearing General Suleimani’s coffin through streets packed so densely with mourners that, in overhead photographs, the ground was not visible. | Pictures of the procession showed an elaborately decorated truck bearing General Suleimani’s coffin through streets packed so densely with mourners that, in overhead photographs, the ground was not visible. |
| Many in the crowd wore black and carried pictures of the dead commander, whose face also looked out from billboards and banners hung from buildings. Others waved red flags that in Shiite Islam have come to symbolize the blood of the sect’s most revered martyr, Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. (The red flag does not signify a call for revenge, as some news outlets have reported.) | Many in the crowd wore black and carried pictures of the dead commander, whose face also looked out from billboards and banners hung from buildings. Others waved red flags that in Shiite Islam have come to symbolize the blood of the sect’s most revered martyr, Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. (The red flag does not signify a call for revenge, as some news outlets have reported.) |
| The crowd was far bigger than the city is used to, and with the main streets jammed with people and others closed off, ambulances struggled to reach injured people. | The crowd was far bigger than the city is used to, and with the main streets jammed with people and others closed off, ambulances struggled to reach injured people. |
| “The route that the government considered for this event was very narrow,” one witness told the BBC’s Persian service, adding that a stampede seemed likely in light of the big crowds that turned out to mourn General Suleimani in Tehran. “Without considering this fact, they picked a narrow and one-way street. Some of the nearby alleys and streets around were closed for some reason and people had no way out.” | “The route that the government considered for this event was very narrow,” one witness told the BBC’s Persian service, adding that a stampede seemed likely in light of the big crowds that turned out to mourn General Suleimani in Tehran. “Without considering this fact, they picked a narrow and one-way street. Some of the nearby alleys and streets around were closed for some reason and people had no way out.” |
| Several top-ranking military officials also attended the procession, according to ISNA, a state-run news agency. | Several top-ranking military officials also attended the procession, according to ISNA, a state-run news agency. |
| “Unfortunately, as a result of a stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of the Iranian emergency medical services, told IRIB. The death toll continued to rise throughout the day. | “Unfortunately, as a result of a stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of the Iranian emergency medical services, told IRIB. The death toll continued to rise throughout the day. |
| Mr. Koulivand told the state-run broadcaster Press TV that Iran’s health minister, Saeid Namaki, was in Kerman and was monitoring the emergency response. | Mr. Koulivand told the state-run broadcaster Press TV that Iran’s health minister, Saeid Namaki, was in Kerman and was monitoring the emergency response. |
| Images and videos posted on social media showed the aftermath of the crush, with emergency workers and bystanders trying to resuscitate people lying on the ground. The bodies of other victims, jackets covering their faces, could be seen nearby. | Images and videos posted on social media showed the aftermath of the crush, with emergency workers and bystanders trying to resuscitate people lying on the ground. The bodies of other victims, jackets covering their faces, could be seen nearby. |
| The general’s body had been flown to Kerman after a funeral service on Monday in Tehran, the capital, where there were even bigger crowds. He had requested a burial in his hometown. | The general’s body had been flown to Kerman after a funeral service on Monday in Tehran, the capital, where there were even bigger crowds. He had requested a burial in his hometown. |
| Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, Farnaz Fassihi from New York, Eric Schmitt from Washington and Vivian Yee from Beirut, Lebanon. Megan Specia contributed reporting from London, and Nilo Tabrizy from New York. |