Trump said that he was holding Iran ‘fully responsible’ for Tuesday’s carnage
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami said ”We are not leading the country to war, but we are not afraid of any war and we tell America to speak correctly with the Iranian nation.’ Islamic Revolutionary Guards Commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami warned. ‘We have the power to break them several times over and are not worried.’
Tuesday’s protest came after US airstrikes on pro-Iran militia based in Iraq
The Iranian general declared today that Tehran was not afraid of war after Donald Trump threatened the country after the siege at the US embassy in Iraq.
President Trump said that he was holding Iran ‘fully responsible’ for Tuesday’s carnage which saw the consulate in Baghdad besieged and set ablaze by a pro-Iran mob.
Trump had said in a tweet on Tuesday that Iran would be ‘held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat.’
In response to Donald Trump saying that he would hold Iran ‘fully responsible’, Brigadier General Hossein Salami said ‘we are not afraid of any war and we tell America to speak correctly to the Iranian nation’
Pro-Iranian militiamen and their supporters set a fire while U.S. soldiers fired tear gas during a sit-in in front of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday
The first wave of 750 U.S. Army paratroopers from a rapid reaction force were dispatched from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait yesterday.
Iran-backed militiamen have withdrawn from the US embassy compound in the Iraqi capital but tensions remain high after two days of clashes.
On Tuesday, some 6,000 pro-Iran Shiite militia fighters stormed U.S. embassy in Baghdad, set walls ablaze and chanted ‘Death to America!’ in a violent retaliation for American air strikes.
There were no reports of American casualties, and the attack was repelled after 100 Marines rapidly reinforced the compound.
US Secretary of Defense Pompeo said in a statement that the attack was ‘orchestrated by terrorists’ and ‘abetted by Iranian proxies’, tweeting pictures that he said showed US-designated terrorists with Iranian ties outside the embassy.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday condemned U.S. attacks on Iranian-allied militias in Iraq, blaming the United States for violence in Iran’s neighbour.
A protester places a shoe at a placard with U.S. President Donald Trump illustration outside the U.S. Embassy during a protest yesterday to condemn air strikes on pro-Iran militia
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Iran’s Army chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi said on Thursday his forces were ready to confront the ‘enemy’.
‘Our armed forces … monitor all moves, and if anyone makes the slightest mistake, they will decisively react, and if the situation heats up, we will show our abilities to the enemy,’ Mousavi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB.
Iran protested on Wednesday to a Swiss envoy, who represents U.S. interests in Tehran, over what it called ‘warmongering statements’ by American officials.
ESCALATING TENSIONS BETWEEN THE US AND IRAN
May 2018: Trump withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal which was drawn up in 2015 under President Obama.
August 2018: The Trump Administration imposes first round of sanctions, prohibit trade with a number of business sectors
November 2018: The Trump Administrations imposes a second round of sanctions which target oil and banking industries. The sanctions have a crippling effect on the Iranian economy
April 2019: Trump designates one arm of the Iranian military as a ‘terrorist group’ – an inflammatory move that prompts the Iran to hit back and call the US a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’
May 2019: Four tankers – including two belonging to US ally Saudi Arabia – are struck and damaged in the Gulf of Oman. The US blames Iran for the attack
May 2019: A rocket lands near the US embassy in Baghdad, prompting Trump to tweet ‘If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!’
June 2019: Iran shoots down a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. An enraged Trump who considers launching airstrikes in retaliation
July 2019: Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that if any more American drones violated Iranian airspace ‘then they will receive the same response’ as the one that was blasted out of the sky the previous month
July 2019: Additional troops and fighter jets are put in place in the Middle East ‘to defend American forces and interests’ amid escalating tension
September 2019: Iran is blamed for an attack on two Saudi oil fields responsible for five percent of the global oil supply – or about 5.7 million barrels per day. Secretary of State Pompeo described the attack as ‘an act of war’
September 2019: US national security officials reportedly presented President Trump with a ‘menu’ of options that include military strikes and cyber attacks
November 2019: Rocket attacks increase on Iraqi military bases which are hosting American service personnel. Intelligence officials believe Hezbollah is behind the attacks
