A rocket was fired into the Iraqi capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone Sunday night, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
The apparent attack, which Iraq’s state-run news agency said did not cause any casualties, came amid heightened tensions across the Persian Gulf, after the White House ordered warships and bombers to the region earlier this month to counter an alleged, unexplained threat from Iran. The U.S. also has ordered nonessential staff out of its diplomatic posts in Iraq.
It was the first such attack since September, when three mortar shells landed in an abandoned lot inside the Green Zone.
There was no immediate comment from the State Department or the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on Sunday’s attack, although President Donald Trump took to Twitter to threaten “the end of Iran” should they threaten the United States again.
If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019
No one claimed responsibility for the attack that took place after sunset when many Baghdad residents were indoors breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Associated Press reporters on the east side of the Tigris River, opposite the Green Zone, heard an explosion, after which alert sirens sounded briefly in Baghdad.
Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul told The Associated Press that a Katyusha rocket fell near the statue of the Unknown Soldier, less than a mile from the U.S. Embassy. He said the military is investigating the cause but that the rocket was believed to have been fired from east Baghdad. The area is home to Iran-backed Shiite militias.
Shortly afterward the rocket launcher was discovered by security forces in the eastern neighborhood of Wihda, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The official also said the roads leading to the Green Zone were closed briefly for security reasons before they were reopened as normal.
Iraq’s state-run news agency said a Katyusha rocket crashed inside the Green Zone without causing any casualties.
As tensions escalate between the U.S. and Iran, there have been concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle , just as it is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those U.S. forces to leave.
American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. Iranian-backed militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi troops against IS, gaining outsized influence and power.
Now, amid an escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran, Iraq is once again vulnerable to becoming caught up in the power play. An attack targeting U.S. interests in Iraq would be detrimental to the country’s recent efforts at recovering and reclaiming its status in the Arab world.
[For Iranians, Economic Crisis Looms Larger Than US Tensions]
On May 8, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a previously unannounced trip to the Iraqi capital following the abrupt cancellation of a visit to Germany, and told Iraqi intelligence that the United States had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening American interests in the Middle East, although he offered no details according to two Iraqi officials.
A few days later, as U.S.-Iranian tensions continued to rise, the State Department ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government staff to leave the country.
Employees of energy giant ExxonMobil have also begun evacuating from an oil field in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxqEvwhAd6R/
(AP)
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23 Responses
Trump is clueless. Worthless threats. The man has no end plan. Cant get anything done because he destroyed his relationship with US allies. Tomorrow he will fall in love with the mullahs
When was the last time we had a president that explained it to Iran as they need to hear it
Crazykanoi do you work for CNN? Or MSNBC?
Crazykanoi,
Either that or he’ll give 150 million dollars for nothing
Oh wait that was Obama
OH YEAH.!!!!!!!
IV BEEN WAITING FOR A PRESIDENT TO PUT THIS RESHAIM IN THEIR PLACE.
To Mr. Kanoiy:
One of the reasons why he can’t get things done, is due to the fact that a lot of democrats want to impeach him and they keep on investigating him. They want his tax returns, personal returns, business tax documents and etc. and etc..
I just now googled, “THE DEMOCRATS ARE INVESTIGATING PRESIDENT TRUMP”.
123,000,000 results
Google those words right now and you will see that my comment is 1,000 percent true.
Crazykanoiy;
Can you please explain to me what your issue with President Trump is? I truly can not fathom why you abhor the man so much. Please explain.
Thank you
Donald Trump July 22 2018
To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
Twitter threats are no excuse for lack of policy. “No policy Don” is out of his league and is flailing about with no idea how to get out of the mess that he is creating.
At least Obama had a deal and it was working according to the assesments of Israeli and American intelligence.
Interesting, the most he had to say about North Korea was “rocket man”. He’s a coward who threatens those who are no threat.
Crazy k i guess you liked empty threats of Obama that had the entire world laughing and thumbing their nose at him .. or perhaps Obama policy of overthrowing kadafi overthrowing the Egyptian pm in favor of the Arab spring and in favor of the Iranian regime or perhaps his policy of bowing and apologizing to murderous dictators .. standing up to iran is not considered clueless it’s good policy
Coffee addict
Wasn’t it 150 BILLION?
But your missing the point.
Obama was great and a genius.
If you don’t know why it’s because you are stupid
Trump is a dumb buffoon. If you don’t agree it’s because you are a vulgar low life.
See it’s so clear.
Not sure why you are confuse
Crazy kanoiy, Obama had a great deal. It was great for the Iranians. They had access to tons of money and the US agreed to not have oversight at their most sensitive locations. Any request for an inspection could take weeks to be approved, if it was approved at all. There was no way to know if they were keeping their end of the deal which was scary enough.
I know, i know, Democrats say we can trust the Iranians to keep their end of the deal! Assuming they did keep it, they didn’t have to destroy any equipment so they could be slowly preparing for the day the deal would expire. As soon as the ten year mark was over, they could be be within three months of a bomb, which they were determined to get. They spent the time instead creating the transportation equipment for the hydrogen bomb so that they could send it towards Israel the day it would be completed. That is unacceptable.
Obama created a great deal for his legacy but a huge mess for whomever would follow him.
Nobody trusted the Iranians. The deal included the most intrusive inspections ever. The IAEA has verified that Iran kept the deal. Israel intelligence verified that Iran kept the deal. US intelligence verified that Iran kept the deal. Both Gadi Eisenkott and Dan Coates went on record that the deal was working. The deal had its flaws namely the ten year sunset clause but instead of working to improve it Trump foolishly ripped it up with nothing to replace it. Trump is left with nothing but twitter threats, heightened tensions and public calls for the leaders of Iran to call him.
Issuing threats on Twitter once a year even in ALL CAPS is not standing up to Iran.
Uzi Arad, the former head of research at the Mossad and the head of Netanyahu’s own National Security Council from 2009 to 2011 is on record that the Obama deal was working. Obama did not trust the Iranians he negotiated a deal enforced by the international community.
“Right now, the agreement, with all its faults, is working and is putting off realization of the Iranian nuclear vision by 10 to 15 years.” – Gadi Eizenkott
“If Iran now continues to suspend its nuclear project for eight or 10 years, in accordance with the agreement, that will let us focus on more urgent threats relating to the Iranian army establishing a presence in Syria, and preparing the Israeli army for the possibility that, in the future, we’ll have to deal with the nuclear [issue] if a confrontation erupts.” – Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad
In an interview Gilad said he believes a U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 agreement would help Iran more than Israel.
“We do not believe Iran is currently undertaking the key activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device,” – Dan Coats
Obama’s deal was working and is still working. Today Israel is safer because of the Iran deal. Hopefully a new US administration will be able to work with our European allies to fix the flaws in the deal and continue to ensure that Iran does not devolop nuclear weapons.
Trump has been all bluster. He boasted that Iran will come back to the table and beg for a better deal but that has not happened. Until that happens Trumps dangerous gamble remains a dangerous gamble and nothing more.
interjection, word of advice: do not engage in discussions with fools. You see the result in the previous 4 posts above.
And James Mattis also opposed ripping up the deal.
Eizenkott, Gilad, Arad, Mattis, and Coates are leaders in the intelligence community. They are tough patriots of their countries. They are not Iran lovers and they are not fools. They have a better sense of reality than the riff raff of the right wing talk radio world
To avraham you just wrote that I just now googled, “THE DEMOCRATS ARE INVESTIGATING PRESIDENT TRUMP”.
123,000,000 results so i put the word “bananas” in google and came out ” About 741,000,000 results (0.80 seconds) “so to make a comperison dont get scared about google numbers AND I AGREE WITH YOUR POST 100%
Obama had a deal?
The “deal” was copied from a “deal” written by a civil servant to bring peace to Korea.
How did that one work out? And that dude is civilized than the rich Iranian leaders.
Moshe In Golus – It is important to try to develop an intellectual rational basis for ideas. Just called others “fools” “leftists” “Insane” etc isnt a logical argument and it doesn’t convey an understanding of the issues at hand nor does it provide a logical basis for your ideas. Name calling also makes your arguments appear weak. Try for a change to engage in some substance. Spend some time reading and researching your opinions so that you can make logical points or perhaps recognize the fallacies inherent in some of your vitriol.
crazykanoiy, there is nothing to discuss, your obnoxious posts speak for themselves.