Iran launched Tuesday night what the Revolutionary Guards called "fierce revenge" for the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, striking two air bases housing US troops in Iraq with ballistic missiles. The New York Times reports that Iranian officials said the strikes began at 1:20am Wednesday local time—the same time the general was killed in a drone strike in Iraq Friday. To make it even clearer that this was retaliation, numerous Iranian officials, including former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, tweeted images of the Iranian flag, apparently mocking President Trump for tweeting an American flag after the strike that killed Soleimani, reports the Week. US and Iraqi officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties, though a presenter on Iranian TV claimed the strikes killed "at least 80 terrorist US soldiers," the AP reports.
Sources tell the AP that Iran fired a total of 15 missiles. Ten hit the Ain al-Asad air base, one hit the Irbil base, and four failed to reach their targets, the sources say. Trump had promised to strike 52 targets in Iran if the country exacted revenge for the killing of Soleimani, but he did not announce any fresh strikes Tuesday. "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!" he tweeted. "We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning." A source tells the Times that Iranian officials waited for Trump to address the nation Tuesday night and when he did not, they suspected the US would either wait to respond or seek to de-escalate the situation. (More Iran stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
