Iran fires missile barrage on US air bases in Iraq
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ordered Defence to take “whatever actions are necessary” to protect Australians in Iraq after Iranian attacks on US air bases.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed Australian diplomatic and defence personnel in Iraq are safe, after Iran launched missile attacks on US military bases housing coalition forces.
“It is obviously a very fluid situation and this is something I’m receiving regular reports on, together with the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Foreign Affairs,” Mr Morrison said.
“We’re doing everything to ensure their continued safety.”
He stressed that Australian personnel were safe “at this point”.
Mr Morrison said he has been in regular contact with the Chief of Defence General Angus Campbell since the attacks, which Iran launched in retaliation over the US assassination of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani.
“I gave (Mr Campbell) authority this morning, to do what was necessary and to take what actions and decisions were necessary to protect ADF personnel and diplomatic staff in Baghdad,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the government had been in contact with its US counterparts to discuss the unfolding events in Iraq.
“I, through the Secretary of State, and the Minister for Defence, through the Defence Secretary in the United States, (are) seeking to ensure we continue to be updated and we’re working closely together to protect the safety of Australians,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the National Security Committee had been “monitoring and watching very closely” since the US killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike last week.
“The status of issues in Iraq and safety is something that we are constantly assessing,” he said.
The Australian Defence Force made contingency plans to get its troops out of Iraq sooner rather than later, according to Defence sources.
Non-essential Australian embassy staff were evacuated from Iraq after the US precision drone strike on General Soleimani last Friday near Baghdad international airport.
Australia has 450 personnel in the Middle East in Operation OKRA as part of the international effort to combat the Islamic State terrorist threat in Iraq and Syria.
Most of the Australian personnel on the ground in Iraq are believed to be at the Taji Military Complex northwest of Baghdad, helping to train Iraqi security forces.
The personnel includes trainers, force protection, support and command personnel.
Australian special forces are also in the country as part of a Special Operations Task Group and Australian personnel are also embedded with the US military.
An earlier statement from the Prime Minister’s office said the federal government was “closely monitoring” the unfolding events, and Mr Morrison is in frequent contact with Defence and DFAT officials. He has also updated Labor leader Anthony Albanese on the situation.
The National Security Committee of the Cabinet, which has been meeting to review the situation and take decisions as necessary since Saturday, is already scheduled to meet again on Thursday and will be convened sooner should further information be confirmed requiring such a response.
The Pentagon confirmed “more than a dozen” ballistic missiles were fired from Iran at two US bases in Iraq housing US and coalition troops in two main rounds.
The second round of attacks started an hour after the first phase took place, the Tehran-based Tasnim news agency said.
Military jets were seen flying over the Iraqi capital hours after the attack.
AFP’s correspondents saw jets cutting through the clouds over Baghdad but could not immediately identify the planes.
BREAKING: Footage of Iran attack on US base Al Assad in Iraq.#AlAssad #Iraq pic.twitter.com/8CtLpgnsw6
— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 7, 2020
Nine missiles reportedly hit the al-Assad and Erbil air bases.
“Shelter in place” sirens were reportedly also heard at the Taji base in northern Baghdad, which houses Australian and allied troops.
“At approximately 5.30pm (9.30am AEDT) on January 7, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq,” Assistant to the US Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jonathan Hoffman said.
“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Erbil.”
The Pentagon said it had taken “all appropriate measures” to safeguard its personnel and partners.
“These bases have been on high alert due to indications that the Iranian regime planned to attack our forces and interests in the region,” a US Department of Defense spokesman said.
“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend US personnel, partners and allies in the region.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps confirmed it had carried out the missile attack against US forces as part of an operation named “Martyr Soleimani,” saying it was the first step of their retaliation for the US targeted killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
The IRGC statement claimed dozens of missiles had been fired at al-Assad air base.
It warned the US and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack against the Ain Assad air base in Iraq’s western Anbar province.
The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” The Guard said.
The White House said US President Donald Trump was “monitoring” reports of the attack.
It is unclear if there have been any casualties.
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Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, said the US “must ensure the safety of our service members, including ending needless provocations from the Administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence.”
“America and the world cannot afford war,” she added.
Her Democratic House colleague Eliot Engel, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN however the attacks “could very well” mean that the US was at war.
“The President and his crew had better figure out a way to … tone down everything because we could be in the middle of a full-fledged war, and I don’t think that is something anybody wants,” he said.
PENTAGON ‘EXPECTED’ IRAN HIT
Earlier Defense Secretary Mark Esper revealed Soleimani was planning attacks that would take place within days when he was killed in Baghdad.
“I think it’s more fair to say days, for sure,” he said at a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday (local time), when asked how imminent the threat was from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.
The Pentagon chief said he fully expected Iran would retaliate for the commander’s killing.
“I think we should expect they will retaliate in some way, shape or form,” he told reporters.
He also confirmed the US is not pulling its forces out of Iraq, denying that there is a signed letter from the US side announcing an exit.
“Our policy has not changed. We are not leaving Iraq,” Mr Esper told reporters.
“There is no signed letter, to the best of my knowledge.”
Earlier Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi said he had received signed copies of a US letter describing steps to “move out” of the country.
President Donald Trump said that a US troop withdrawal from Iraq at this stage would be the “worst thing” for the country, after Baghdad’s parliament demanded the expulsion of American forces.“
“At some point we want to get out, but this isn’t the right point,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday (local time).
“It’s the worst thing that could happen to Iraq.”
Mr Trump’s top advisers are under pressure to disclose more detail about the intelligence that led him to order Soleimani’s killing.
He said his decision saved American lives and that members of Congress will be briefed on the reasons for the US attack.
“We saved a lot of lives,” Mr Trump said.
“They were planning something.”
But Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Mr Trump’s escalation of tensions with Iran proved him to be “dangerously incompetent” and put the US on the brink of war.
Speaking in New York, Mr Biden said the US President used a “haphazard” decision-making process to order Soleimani’s killing and had failed to communicate the rationale to Congress or US allies around the world.
Mr Biden said Mr Trump instead offered “tweets, threats and tantrums” that proved the Republican president to be “dangerously incompetent and incapable of world leadership.”
“Democracy runs on accountability,” Mr Biden said, urging Mr Trump to consult with Congress on acts of war, as required by the Constitution.
“No one wants war. But it’s going to take hard work to make sure we don’t end up there accidentally.”
DOZENS KILLED IN FUNERAL STAMPEDE
A stampede erupted at the funeral procession for the top Iranian general, killing at least 56 people and injuring more than 200 others, local media reported.
The stampede took place in Kerman, Soleimani’s hometown, as the procession got underway.
Initial videos posted online showed people lying lifeless on a road and others shouting and trying to help them.
Iranian state TV gave the casualty toll in its online report, citing Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of Iran’s emergency medical services.
“Unfortunately as a result of the stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” he earlier said.
Authorities later delayed Soleimani’s burial, citing concerns about the massive crowd that had gathered, the semi-official ISNA news agency said. It did not say when the burial would take place.
A procession in Tehran drew over one million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets in Tehran.
Soleimani’s death has sparked calls across Iran for revenge against America for a slaying that’s drastically raised tensions across the Middle East.
In an interview with CNN, Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif called the assassination of Soleimani an act of “state terrorism”.
“This is an act of aggression against Iran and amounts to an armed attack against Iran, and we will respond. But we will respond proportionally not disproportionally,” he said.
“We will respond lawfully, we are not lawless people like President Trump.”
Mr Zarif said the US had declined to issue him a visa to travel to New York for upcoming meetings at the United Nations.
The US as the host of the UN headquarters is supposed to allow foreign officials to attend such meetings.
“This is because they fear someone will go there and tell the truth to the American people,” Mr Zarif said.
“But they are mistaken. The world is not limited to New York. You can speak with American people from Tehran too and we will do that.”
Iran’s parliament, meanwhile, has passed an urgent bill declaring the US military’s command at the Pentagon and those acting on its behalf in Soleimani’s killing as “terrorists,” subject to Iranian sanctions.
The measure appears to be an attempt to mirror a decision by Mr Trump in April to declare the Revolutionary Guard a “terrorist organisation.”
The US Defence Department used the Guard’s designation as a terror organisation in the US to support the strike that killed Soleimani.
The decision by Iran’s parliament, done by a special procedure to speed the bill to law, comes as officials across the country threaten to retaliate for Soleimani’s killing.
The vote also saw politicians approve funding for the Quds Force with an additional 200 million euros, or about $224 million.
Others were less moderate in their response to the strike.
A senior presidential aide tacitly called for attacks on Mr Trump’s properties, while Soleimani’s daughter Zainab directly threatened American forces in the region.
“The families of the American soldiers … will spend their days waiting for the death of their children,” she said to extended cheers at the raucous funeral procession for her father.
More than a million mourners flooded two cities to protest last Friday’s killing, which has pushed US-Iran tensions to their highest levels in decades.
Soleimani for decades led Iran’s shadowy Quds Force, which directed terror activities across the Middle East, and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US forces in the Iraq war.
His slaying outside Baghdad airport has sparked a furious response from Iran and Iraq, which has voted to expel US troops.
Iran announced it would withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement that placed caps on its uranium production and research and development, sparking concerns it would build an atomic bomb.
Mr Trump said “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” and backed in his pledge to meet any retaliatory strike with force.
There was also confusion about the US presence in Iraq, after a draft letter was accidentally sent saying forces would be withdrawn after 17 years in the country.
“Here’s the bottom line, this was a mistake,” said General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The bungled message started when a draft letter from Marine Brigadier General William Seely began circulating on social media.
Addressed to an official at the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, the letter said US troops would be “repositioning forces” to prepare for “onward movement.”
Earlier, a top adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signalled that a terror attack could be carried out on American properties owned by Mr Trump, including Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower.
A top adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani posted a link on social media to a news article listing large Trump estates throughout the US, indicating that his multi-billion dollar estate was in the crosshairs.
The post linked to Forbes’ latest estimate of Trump’s financial situation that lists nine properties in New York that have a combined estimated value of $A2.2 billion.