UPDATED: 1/6/19
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iraq’s top leadership has gathered to receive condolences for militia leaders killed along with Iran’s top military commander in a U.S. airstrike last week. The gathering in Baghdad on Monday comes a day after parliament voted in a favor of a bill requesting the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.
The non-binding vote to end the presence of 5,200 troops requires the approval of the Iraqi government. It highlights the sharp deterioration in relations between the Americans and Iraq in recent weeks amid soaring tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Meantime, President Trump issued a warning about massive sanctions on Iraq if it expels U.S. troops.
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday the U.S. wouldn’t leave the joint U.S. air base with Iraq “unless they pay us back,” and he doubled down on his threat to target 52 Iranian sites.
If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis. We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame.”
Trump tweeted a number of other warnings about the matter over the weeknd.
They attacked us, & we hit back. If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before! https://t.co/qI5RfWsSCH
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2020
BEIRUT (AP) – The daughter of Iran’s Gen. Qassem Soleimani says the death of her father will “not break us” and the United States should know that his blood will not go for free.
Soleimani’s daughter told Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV – which is linked with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group -that the “filthy” President Donald Trump will not be able to wipe out the achievements of the slain Iranian leader. The young woman, who spoke in Farsi with Arabic voice over, said that she knows that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will avenge the death of her father.
Meantime, in Iran, a so-called ‘Red Flag of Doom’ was raised for the first time in history signalling ‘war to come.’
The Red Flag bring hoisted on The Holy Dome Of Jamkarān Mosque, Qom, #Iran. As stated in a previous tweet, according to old #Iranian tradition this is a symbol of battle/war to come. pic.twitter.com/U8p3p135c9
— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) January 4, 2020
And, two top Senate Democrats are calling on President Donald Trump to immediately declassify the administration’s reasoning for the deadly strike on an Iranian official.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Senate Foreign Relation Committee’s Sen. Robert Menendez say there’s “no legitimate justification” for keeping the information from the public. Schumer and Menendez say in a Monday letter to Trump the White House’s classified notification sent to Congress Saturday under the War Powers Act was insufficient. Trump has warned the U.S. will levy harsh sanctions if Iraq expels American troops in retaliation for the strike in Baghdad that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Iran has vowed to retaliate.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is declaring that a “reign of terror is over” as he marks the death of an Iranian general killed in a U.S. strike.
Trump said from Florida that Gen. Qassem Soleimani “made the death of innocent people his sick passion,” and should have been hunted down years ago.
The Pentagon is scrambling to reinforce the American military presence in the Middle East in preparation for reprisals.
As part of that, the U.S. is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast, and it’s placed a brigade in Italy on alert to fly to Beirut if needed to protect the embassy there.
(Copyright 2020, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)