Iran’s missile strikes on bases housing US troops in Iraq were intended to damage the American ‘military machine’ rather than kill soldiers, an Iranian commander told state television. He promised further strikes in the region.
Iran launched a volley of ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday morning, bringing the two countries to the brink of war. However, no American or Iraqi casualties were sustained, and US President Donald Trump responded with economic sanctions instead of military action.
Speaking on Iranian state television on Thursday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) aerospace commander, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said that the missiles were aimed at damaging America’s “military machine,” rather than killing its troops.
Hajizadeh added that expelling American troops from the Middle East would be “appropriate revenge” for the death of IRGC Major General Qassem Soleimani, who the US assassinated in a drone strike at Baghdad airport on Friday.
Hajizadeh said that the attack would be the start of a series of similar strikes across the region.
Trump thanked an “early warning system” for tipping the US military off about the incoming Iranian missiles on Wednesday morning, averting casualties at the bases. However, the Iraqi government confirmed that it received advance warning of the strikes, enabling US troops to take precautionary measures and activate air defense systems. Nevertheless, the missiles struck with pinpoint accuracy, demonstrating the advancement of Tehran’s military technology in recent years.
Earlier in the day IRGC commander Abdollah Araghi also said that Iran would take “harsher revenge soon,” without elaborating further.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei both stated that the Islamic Republic’s ultimate goal is the removal of US troops from the Middle East.
