Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the Iranian missile attacks that hit two Iraqi bases housing American troops were just a “slap on the face” to the U.S., and his action later on Twitter shows it may just be the beginning of further retaliation for the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Just hours after Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases Tuesday night, of which no casualties have been reported yet, Khamenei took to Twitter with a tweet announcing the “military actions are not enough.”
They were slapped last night, but such military actions are not enough. #AlAssadBase
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 8, 2020
He also called the U.S. a “corruptive presence” as part of his tweet storm using the hashtag “#SevereRevenge.”
The corruptive presence of the US in the region of West Asia must be stopped. #SevereRevenge
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 8, 2020
Khamenei went on to place a lot of blame on the U.S. for problems in the Middle East and even went so far as to say “this region won’t accept the US presence.”
The US has caused war, division, sedition, destruction, and the demolition of infrastructures in this region. Of course they do this everywhere in the world. This region won’t accept the US presence. Governments elected by nations won’t accept the presence of the US.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 8, 2020
The missile barrage that targeted the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and another base in the Erbil, located in the northern part of the country, came after three days of mourning in Iran and Iraq over the U.S. assassination of Soleimani, who was killed by a drone strike at Baghdad airport early Friday morning.
White House officials claim that Soleimani was very close to executing an attack on American civilians, but evidence has not been released by U.S. defense officials to the public or Congress yet.
U.S. President Donald Trump also jumped on Twitter on Tuesday night to say that “All is well!” concerning casualties of U.S. soldiers.
All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2020
The United Kingdom and Iraq, who also have soldiers stationed at those Iraqi bases, have also not reported any casualties yet.
The U.S. and Iran have claimed they do not want to escalate the situation to war, but quick retaliations like this are not a good sign, argues senior fellow at the Middle East Institute Alex Vatanka.
“But look, Iran has made its point … in many ways, we were expecting an Iranian retaliation. I, for one, did not think it will come so fast and so furious but that’s what happened,” Vatanka said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
Iranian presidential adviser Hesameddin Ashena posted a cryptic tweet that only contained a link to a Forbes article about Trump’s wealth and properties around the world Tuesday, suggesting they could be targeted by Iran.
— Hesameddin Ashena (@hesamodin1) January 5, 2020
The Iranian retaliation sent Dow Jones futures crashing 400 points while Brent crude oil spiked as high as 4%. The markets recovered a lot of that plunge after the actual damage was revealed to be minor.
Following the attacks many commercial airlines announced they would be rerouting flights through the Middle East to avoid danger.
“In a war situation, the first casualty is always air transport, said Dubai-based aviation consult Mark Martin, pointing to airline bankruptcies during the Persian Gulf and Yugoslav wars.
At least 500 commercial flights travel through Iranian and Iraqi airspace daily, Martin said.
A Ukrainian passenger jet crashed on Wednesday, just hours after Iran’s ballistic missile attack, but Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ukrainian officials initially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing.
Still, at least two Kazakh airlines — Air Astana and SCAT — were considering rerouting or canceling their flights over Iran following the crash, which killed all 176 passengers. On the plan were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians including nine crew members, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British citizens.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.