War Iran-United States Military Crisis of 2020 - US Baghdad embassy under siege, rocket fire in US Baghdad green zone, Ukrainian Airlines flight 752 crash, and more!

January 10th:
Exclusive: Informants in Iraq, Syria helped U.S. kill Iran's Soleimani - sources (archive)(post)
Iraqi Shia cleric whose militia killed American troops says crisis is over following Iran strike and Trump speech (archive)(post)
Iraqi PM tells US to decide mechanism for troop withdrawal (archive)(post)
Mike Pence says Congress might 'compromise sources and methods' if fully briefed on the Soleimani strike (archive)(post)
Unidentified planes hit Iraqi militiamen in Syria, killing 8 (archive)(post)
Iraq: The Master Of Mayhem Meets A Missile (archive)(post)
Eliminating Qasem Soleimani was Donald Trump’s Middle East farewell letter (archive)(post)
Iran uses BULLDOZERS to clear debris from plane crash site while accusing US of ‘big lie’ that they shot it down (archive)(post)
Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis (post)

January 11th:
UKRAINIAN AIRCRAFT WAS BROUGHT DOWN IN IRAN DUE TO 'HUMAN ERROR' (archive)(post)
Iran minister says 'human error' caused by 'US adventurism' led to deadly crash of Ukrainian jetliner (archive)(post)
Ukrainian aircraft was brought down in Iran due to 'human error' (archive)(post)
Trump, at Ohio rally, says Democrats would have leaked Soleimani attack plans (archive)(post)
The Atlantic's David Frum blames Trump for downing of plane in Iran, deaths of 176 (archive)(post)
Associated Press changes ‘shockingly bad’ headline about Soleimani, Ukrainian plane crash after backlash (archive)(post)
GOP Rep. Doug Collins apologizes for saying Democrats are 'in love with terrorists' (archive)(post)
Iran demands West 'show findings' as new video reveals aircraft was struck before fiery crash (archive)(post)
Warren town hall interrupted by angry protester accusing her of ‘siding with terrorists’ (archive)(post)
Trump administration announces new sanctions on Iran (archive)(post)
Prepare For the Worst From Iran Cyber Attacks, As DHS Issues Warning: Experts (archive)(post)
Trump tells Fox News' Laura Ingraham 'four embassies' were targeted in imminent threat from Iran (archive)(post)
Trump tweets support for Iranian protesters as they demand Khamenei quit (archive)(post)
Trump warns Iran against ‘another massacre’ as protests flare over downed jet (archive)(post)

January 12th:
Trump tweet in Farsi 'the most liked Persian tweet' in history of Twitter (archive)(post)
Iraq warned to keep US troops or risk financial blow-WSJ (archive)(post)
Iran arrests UK ambassador in what Britain calls ‘flagrant violation of international law’ (archive)(post)

January 13th:
Trump authorized Soleimani's killing 7 months ago, with conditions (archive)(post)

edit: This is a WIP. All links are posted in the order they appear in the thread, not in chronological order of their publication.


---Original OP before the merge---
Iraqi supporters of Iran-backed militia attack US Embassy
https://apnews.com/75228a8a607a44863b57021ac33264dc (http://archive.vn/ljm9Y)

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the main building inside embassy. It was not clear what caused the fire at the reception area near the parking lot of the compound. A man on a loudspeaker urged the mob not to enter the compound, saying: “The message was delivered.”

The embassy attack followed deadly U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said it was in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that it had blamed on the militia.

Dozens of protesters marched inside the compound after smashing the gate used by cars to enter the embassy. The protesters, many in militia uniform, stopped in a corridor after about 5 meters (16 feet), and were only about 200 meters away from the main building. Half a dozen U.S. soldiers were seen on the roof of the main building, their guns were pointed at the protesters.

Smoke from the tear gas rose in the area, and at least three of the protesters appeared to have difficulties breathing. It wasn’t immediately known whether the embassy staff had remained inside the main building.

The protesters hanged a poster on the wall: “America is an aggressor.”

Shouting “Down, Down USA,” the crowd tried to push inside the embassy grounds, hurling water and stones over its walls. They raised yellow militia flags and taunted the embassy’s security staff who remained behind the glass windows in the gates’ reception area. They sprayed graffiti on the wall and windows in red in support of the Kataeb Hezbollah militia: “Closed in the name of the resistance.”

Hundreds of angry protesters, some in militia uniforms, set up tents outside the embassy. As tempers rose, the mob set fire to three trailers used by security guards along the embassy wall.

No one was immediately reported hurt in the rampage and security staff had withdrawn to inside the embassy earlier, soon after protesters gathered outside.

The U.S. attack — the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia in recent years — and the subsequent calls by the militia for retaliation, represent a new escalation in the proxy war between the U.S. and Iran playing out in the Middle East.

Tuesday’s attempted embassy storming took place after mourners and supporters held funerals for the militia fighters killed in a Baghdad neighborhood, after which they marched on to the heavily fortified Green Zone and kept walking till they reached the sprawling U.S. Embassy there.

AP journalists then saw the crowd as they tried to scale the walls of the embassy, in what appeared to be an attempt to storm it, shouting “Down, down USA!” and “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday’s strikes send the message that the U.S. will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardize American lives.

The Iranian-backed Iraqi militia had vowed Monday to retaliate for the U.S. military strikes. The attack and vows for revenge raised concerns of new attacks that could threaten American interests in the region.

The U.S. attack also outraged both the militias and the Iraqi government, which said it will reconsider its relationship with the U.S.-led coalition — the first time it has said it will do so since an agreement was struck to keep some U.S. troops in the country. It called the attack a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

In a partly televised meeting Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi told Cabinet members that he had tried to stop the U.S. operation “but there was insistence” from American officials.

The U.S. military said “precision defensive strikes” were conducted against five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq and Syria. The group, which is a separate force from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, operates under the umbrella of the state-sanctioned militias known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Many of them are supported by Iran.

.

 

[Spooky Bones]

This is about to completely spiral out of control, isn't it?

With the 82nd airborne in country, it's a safe bet.

I don't think we'll go to a conventional war with Iran, but shit is going to go down.

 

[Jump]

Baghdad (AP) — Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport Friday, Iraqi television and three Iraqi officials said.

The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, the officials said.

I guess this didn't go quite as Iran had hoped.
https://apnews.com/5597ff0f046a67805cc233d5933a53ed

 

[Spooky Bones]

The Quds force was designated as a foreign terrorist organization. This means that they can be targeted, without explicit authorization, under the AUMF. This is nothing new but the designation as an FTO of a military unit of a country is unprecedented and has rather horrifying implications.

 

[PantsFreeZone]

This tweet did not age well.

 

[IMayUseSpaces]

Well this is certainly embarrassing for Iran. Of course everybody with some measure of common sense knew they were involved in the embassy attacks, but they had plausible deniability, at least for useful idiots to believe. But how humiliating that not only was a top general of theirs discovered in Iraq, he got blown the fuck up too. Good luck denying this one!

This is a win for the Trump administration for sure.

 

[Spooky Bones]

Yeah, what the fuck was he doing there? I mean, obviously, but come on, how did dude think it was a good idea to go to Iraq in person?

This is a win for the Trump administration for sure.

Sick of winning yet? Seriously though, even Bush didn't have balls to do this despite numbering Iran among the "axis of evil." I'm not really in favor of fucking with Iran, it's mostly done for the gratification of certain yarmulke-sporting interests, but if we do it, we should do it right. No half measures.

 

[kobebyarlant]

“Don’t worry, last time we did this the US president sent us a pallet of cash. What’s the worst thing a plane could deliver us?”

 

[Dom Cruise]

Well shit just hit the fan pretty quick this new year.

Literally two days into the new decade lmao.

 

[PantsFreeZone]

If you think about it in financial terms, Obama sent the Iranians $1.7 billion when they fucked with us.

Trump sent two missiles worth about $120K.

Fiscal conservatism is the way.

 

[Spooky Bones]

Better article:

Senior Iranian, Iraqi commanders killed in Baghdad airstrike - Iraqi state TV
If confirmed, death of Qassem Soleimani would stoke US-Iran tensions

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/defense-secretary-says-iran-and-its-proxies-may-be-planning-fresh-attacks-on-us-personnel-in-iraq/2020/01/02/53b63f00-2d89-11ea-bcb3-ac6482c4a92f_story.html

An air strike has killed Iranian Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani and another senior Iranian-linked figure in Baghdad, Iraqi state television reported on Thursday.

No one claimed immediately responsibility for the strike, which Iraqi television also said killed Abu Mehdi al-Muhandas, an Iraqi militia commander, near the Iraqi capital’s airport, but the death of Iran’s most revered military leader appeared likely to send tensions soaring between the United States and Iran.

Soleimani, who has long been Iran’s most prominent military figure and is closely linked to the country’s foreign proxy groups, has taken on an enhanced role in Iraq as the country’s Shiite militia groups have gained new clout in recent years.
Pentagon officials declined comment on the strike.

The strike comes amid already increased friction between Washington and Iran over what U.S. officials say is a campaign of sustained aggression against the United States and its allies.




On Jan. 1, the siege on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad appeared to come to an end after supporters of the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia retreated. (Liz Sly, Joyce Lee, Mustafa Salim/The Washington Post)

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said that Iran and its proxies may be preparing renewed strikes on U.S. personnel in Iraq, even as the Trump administration increases the number of troops in the region to guard against what it characterized as sustained Iranian aggression.

“There are some indications out there that they may be planning additional attacks,” Esper said at the Pentagon, a day after members of an Iranian-linked militia, Kataib Hezbollah, withdrew from the area around the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad following their assault on the diplomatic facility.

“So do I think they may do something?” he said. “Yes, and they will likely regret it.”
The attempted siege — in which militiamen threw molotov cocktails, stormed into a reception area and then established a camp outside the sprawling American compound — marked the most intense flare-up in U.S.-Iran tensions in Iraq since the end of the Iraq War in 2011.

The incident has strained relations with the Baghdad government, which has sought to maintain stable ties with both its chief Western backer, the United States, and its powerful neighbor, Iran, and the violence posed a new test of the Trump administration’s hawkish policy against Tehran.

After the strike that Iraqi state television said killed Soleimani, there were reports of gunfire erupting in the airport vicinity at the time of the strike, and the Iraqi Army command said three Katyusha rockets, which are typically fired by Iranian backed militias, exploded nearby.

Kataib Hezbollah’s targeting of the embassy followed U.S. strikes over the weekend on militia facilities in Iraq and Syria. Officials said they came in response to repeated rocket and artillery attacks on U.S. facilities, including one recent incident that killed an American contractor in Iraq. At least 25 militia members were killed in the retaliatory strikes.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have been building. The Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and has since imposed new sanctions that have devastated the Iranian economy. In June, President Trump authorized and then called off airstrikes in Iran following Tehran’s downing of an American surveillance drone.
Trump threatens Iran after embassy attack, but remains reluctant to get more involved in region
“The game has changed,” Esper said. “And we’re prepared to do what is necessary to defend our personnel and our interests and our partners in the region.”

He said that could include military action to preempt militia attacks if U.S. officials learn about them ahead of time.
Speaking alongside Esper, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the embassy compound, which contains hardened offices and residences and occupies more than 100 acres in Baghdad’s international zone, remained secure.

“There is sufficient combat power there, air and ground, that anyone who attempts to overrun that will run into a buzz saw,” Milley said.

In response to the attack on the embassy, the administration has deployed 750 troops from a special quick-action battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait, a staging ground for forces going into Iraq. About 100 Marines were sent into Baghdad to protect the embassy.

Milley said the increase in forces in Kuwait was needed in part to compensate for the Marine deployment and ensure readiness to respond to other possible incidents in the region.

About 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq as part of efforts to combat the remnants of the Islamic State and support Iraqi security forces. While the number of diplomats there is far fewer than it has been in past years, hundreds of embassy personnel were forced to shelter in safe rooms during the militia siege.

Milley also appeared to question whether the Iraqi government, which includes senior officials seen as having strong allegiances to Tehran, intended to take action to check militia groups.

Last year, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued an order aimed at strengthening government control over militia units, which have gained new military and political clout since 2014 because of their instrumental role in battling the Islamic State.

“They have the capability,” Milley said. “It’s a question of political will, and that’s not for us to decide. That’s for the internal political dynamics of Iraq.”

The Iraqi government has been in crisis for months amid massive popular protests focused on widespread corruption and, to a lesser extent, Iranian influence in Iraq. The mass mobilizations prompted Abdul Mahdi to resign late last year, though he remains in office in a caretaker capacity.

It is unclear in the wake of the U.S. strikes and the embassy episode whether some Iraqi politicians’ calls for a full American withdrawal will gain momentum.

Speaking in a subsequent Fox News interview, Esper suggested a potential shift in U.S. strategy in Iraq, saying the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate “remains physically defeated, if you will,” and now the administration’s “aim is to deter further Iranian bad behavior that has been going on now for over 40 years.”

Asked whether Iranian leaders needed a “punch in the nose” that goes beyond sanctions and tough rhetoric, Esper declined to answer directly. The Trump administration has already sent thousands of troops and additional assets to the Middle East, including missile defense systems, in response to the perceived Iranian threat.

Esper said Iran must end its nuclear and long-range missile programs, stop taking hostages and move away from “malign behavior where they are inspiring terrorist groups, and resourcing and directing them all the way from Africa across the Middle East and into Afghanistan.”

Col. Myles Caggins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, said the embassy episode had not damaged efforts to target the once-powerful militant group, which no longer holds territory but continues to conduct insurgent attacks.
“Although they are a dangerous distraction, recent attacks from Kataib Hezbollah militias have not deterred us from partnering with local security forces for training missions and outside-the-wire operations to catch ISIS members,” he said in an email, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

 

[AnotherPleb]

This was a warning.

Stay out Iraq if you're Iranian military and you don't want to be droned.

We ain't targeting weddings and goat farms like the past 8 years.

If you were one of those drone pilots you'd strike the fuck out of those marriages at the goat farms too.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

Explosions Rock Baghdad International Airport As Tensions Soar Following Embassy Attack

Explosions Rock Baghdad International Airport As Tensions Soar Following Embassy Attack (Updated)

Just days after the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was attacked, explosions indicate some sort of new attack has occurred in the Iraqi capital.

www.thedrive.com

Just days after the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was attacked, explosions indicate some sort of new attack has occurred in the Iraqi capital.
Details remain thin and elements of the story are bound to change as it unfolds, but a number of explosions have rocked the area around Baghdad International Airport in the Iraqi capital. This comes as American forces are pouring into the region in response to a militant mob's attack on the American Embassy in Baghdad two days ago. That incident was in response to U.S. airstrikes on Iranian-backed Iraqi militias this past weekend, which were in retaliation for an early rocket barrage on a base in the northern city of Kirkuk that killed a U.S. contractor and wounded American troops.

The exact number of weapons fired and the target or targets of the strikes is unclear. Initial reports indicated that between three and four rockets landed near the airport. Reuters and others subsequently reported that an Iraqi base where American troops are also stationed was one of the main focuses of the attack.

Breaking: prelim from military sources mentions two SUVs were hit in the vicinity of Baghdad International airport during the attack tonight( still trying to confirm if it was a direct hit by a drone or a typical militia rocket attack) pic.twitter.com/CwW2BZoqxF
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) January 2, 2020​

Both SUVs are seen here burning with passengers inside, nothing confirmed yet of the source of the rockets or who was behind the attack #Baghdad #iraq pic.twitter.com/TimWNoYrjt
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) January 2, 2020​

Four rockets hit an Iraqi military base near Baghdad airport, Reuters reporting citing the police.
— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) January 2, 2020​

U.S. military helicopters, possibly AH-64 Apaches, also reportedly took off from an unspecified location nearby following the attack. Apaches had conducted shows of force, including firing flares, over the Embassy during the incident there on Dec. 31, 2019, and have been patrolling the general area since then.

#BREAKING: Military helicopters are flying near Baghdad Airport after missiles landed at the vicinity of the airport.#Iraq
— Baxtiyar Goran (@BaxtiyarGoran) January 2, 2020​

Other rockets may have reportedly hit portions of the airport itself, such as the runway or inside a cargo handling area, as well as an access road just outside. There are also unconfirmed reports that the rocket attacks at Baghdad airport caused Iraqi security forces and civilian casualties.

One of the rockets fell inside air cargo zone, #Baghdad airport.
— Barzan Sadiq (@BarzanSadiq) January 2, 2020​

Four rockets hit bellow targets at #Baghdad International Airport :

• The building used by the US-led Coalition.
• Military airport’s runway.
• Iraqi Counter Terrorism center
• The Airport’s outside road
— Aldin (@aldin_ww) January 2, 2020​

The airport would not a surprising target given that, as noted, dozens of U.S. military airlifters and other military aircraft have been heading toward Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean regions since the attack on the Embassy on Dec. 31. This major air bridge has flowed through commercial airports and bases in Europe and then to military facilities, including in neighboring countries such as Kuwait and Jordan.

Updated list:
On ground in Germany (for fuel):#RCH688, 06-6167
USAF C-17As currently inbound Germany (for fuel): #RCH917, 01-0187#RCH687, 02-1110#RCH664, 09-9209#RCH417, 08-8196
Currently outbound Germany, heading for #Iraq:#RCH622, 06-6162#RCH663, 04-4132#RCH429, 03-3125 pic.twitter.com/BQJvf0lD3C
— Gerjon | חריון (@Gerjon_) January 2, 2020​

C-17As currently up for #Iraq #IraqProtests:
From FRA: #RCH327 01-0193
From RMS:#RCH597 04-4128#RCH957 04-4130
To RMS:#RCH657 03-3124#RCH662 04-4132#RCH429 03-3125#RCH626 10-0217
To Rota:#RCH894 (Ex-#RCH893) 07-7188
From Rota:#RCH340 07-7175#RCH707 06-6188 pic.twitter.com/xw1XX4eU4T
— Gerjon | חריון (@Gerjon_) January 2, 2020​

Proving that not all flights for #IraqProtests actually go into #Iraq is #RCH657 (03-3124), visualized in this graph. Today she flew #Ramstein - Ali Al Salem (#Kuwait) and is currently returning to Ramstein. The same holds for #RCH626 (10-0217) and #RCH663 (04-4132), not shown. pic.twitter.com/8rYEclmVtW
— Gerjon | חריון (@Gerjon_) January 2, 2020​

Curiously, two SUVs that belonged to the the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the Iraqi government-sanctioned umbrella organization that oversees various militia units, including Iranian-backed forces, were also destroyed on the access road during the incident. The PMF has issued a statement that Mohammed Ridha, the head of its public relations and protocol office, as well as unspecified "guests" were killed.

Two SUVs were hit on the road leading to the arrival/departure of Baghdad International Airport pic.twitter.com/9xZVlGVEeA
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) January 2, 2020​

Breaking: the head of the PMF public relations & Protocol office was killed during the attack inside of Baghdad Airport, the PMF leadership and members attacked the #USEmbassy in #Baghdad two days ago pic.twitter.com/r90he9Q0dr
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) January 2, 2020​

PMU official, named Muhammad Reda along with two of his companions, was killed in the bombing of the Baghdad airport. https://t.co/nZyAsFwN0K via @Aletejah_TV #Iraq pic.twitter.com/KBxe8wA5gz
— Liveuamap MiddleEast (@lummideast) January 2, 2020​

The bigger news is that the drone strike has killed a very senior PMF official who was escorting some "guests" away from Baghdad airport (at night). Who were they? Who did the drone strike?
— Liz Sly (@LizSly) January 2, 2020​

This raises the possibility that the SUVs were the target of a separate attack or that the initial reports of a rocket attack at the airport were in reference to the strikes on Ridha and his associates.
Online flight tracking software also appears to show flights heading to the airport despite some reports that it had ceased operations in light of the attacks.

Despite rumors of attack, #Baghdad airport remains open pic.twitter.com/Z0Hu0ASvdZ
— Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) January 2, 2020​

Based on the details available about this new incident, at least so far, the reported rocket attacks on Baghdad's airport and the Iraqi base nearby have all the hallmarks of rocket attacks that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have launched against American diplomatic facilities and bases where American troops are stationed in the country in the past few years. There had been a spike in such attacks recently and the one on the K-1 base in Kirkuk this past weekend was the eleventh such attack in December 2019.
It remains to be seen how the United States and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq might respond to the reported rocket attacks and the strikes on the PMF SUVs, respectively, and depend in no small part on exactly how the incidents unfolded.
Earlier in the day, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had threatened further retaliation in response to any future attacks from Iran or its proxies in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

On the situation in Iraq & the region, @EsperDoD reiterated U.S. forces maintain a high level of readiness & the United States will not accept continued attacks against U.S. personnel & forces there. He urged the Iranian regime to end their malign activities.
— Department of Defense (@DeptofDefense) January 2, 2020​

"To Iran and its proxy militias: we will not accept continued attacks against our personnel and forces in the region," Esper said. "Attacks against us will be met with responses in the time, manner, and place of our choosing. We urge the Iranian regime to end their malign activities."
However, This threat did not appear to dissuade Iranian-backed groups in Iraq. Later in the day, a spokesperson for Kata'ib Hezbollah, the militia group the U.S. government says was behind the K-1 base attack and was the target of the subsequent American airstrikes, also said that the militants were "waiting [for] orders to target American bases in Iraq."

This attack came hours after the spokesperson of the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia threatened that "they are waiting orders to target American bases in Iraq".#Iraq #Iran #USA #IRGC pic.twitter.com/XpFeMJPDji
— Eva J. Koulouriotis - إيفا كولوريوتي (@evacool_) January 2, 2020​

UPDATE: 8:25pm EST—
It is important to stress that they are unconfirmed as of yet, but there are growing reports, including now from Iraqi state television, that Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the extra-territorial arm of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), died in the strike on the two SUVs are Baghdad International Airport. In addition, Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the leader of of Kata'ib Hezbollah and the Deputy Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Committee that oversees the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), was also said to have been killed.
Be warned, some graphic photos follow below.

#Iraq-i politician Mashan al-Jabouri has just tweeted a message mourning Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes. #Baghdad #Iran https://t.co/UXTpkP1plO https://t.co/MzwIGuAqdz
— Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) January 3, 2020​

Iraqi state TV is reporting the "martyrdom" of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Mohandis on the Baghdad airport road.
— Liz Sly (@LizSly) January 3, 2020​

First photo is an image of the hands of one of those killed in the airstrike in Baghdad tonight. Soleimani has the same ring.#Iraq #Baghdadi pic.twitter.com/voJjaobneW
— CNW (@ConflictsW) January 3, 2020​

Purported Soleimani photo evidence tweeted by an Iranian journalist: https://t.co/WNczwQPTvv
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) January 3, 2020​

It is hard to overstate how significant this would be, if true. Qasem Soleimani has been overseeing Iranian support for militias in Iraq, as well as Syria and Lebanon, among other countries and is among the most influential figures in Iran today. Abu Mahdi al Muhandis has strong ties to the IRGC and Soleimani personally and has similar influence among the other Iranian-backed elements of the PMF.

No one has claimed responsibility for the strikes on the SUVs, but if Soleimani and Muhandis did die, it is hard to see how Iran and its regional proxies could not launch counterattacks throughout the region on the actors they would see as the most likely perpetrators, including the United States and Israel. This, in turn, could easily lead to spiraling escalation, at least in the near term.

UPDATE: 8:45pm EST—

Newsweek is now reporting Soleimani and Muhandis' deaths, citing U.S. government officials.

My latest alongside @JimLaPorta UPDATE: @Newsweek can confirm that, along with the Popular Mobilization Forces' Mohammed Redha al-Jabari and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iran Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was also killed in Baghdad, per U.S. official. https://t.co/yXesTROfIO pic.twitter.com/46BLDgHWE9
— 𝕋om 𝕆'ℂonnor (@ShaolinTom) January 3, 2020​

We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

 

[roxitp0w3rwuzdabest420]

We need to pull out of the middle east. Also lets start a war for Israel.

 

[Cpl. Long Dong Silver]

This is about to completely spiral out of control, isn't it?

Just when I thought we might be deciding forever war was a bad idea.

I've realized there is a serious chance my kids could be the third straight generation to fight in the same war. What time to be alive.

 

[ObeseScreamingBlackMan]

Did they use one of our mall-ninja blade missiles on him?

 

[Spooky Bones]

Just when I thought we might be deciding forever war was a bad idea.

I've realized there is a serious chance my kids could be the third straight generation to fight in the same war. What time to be alive.

Fucking feels. My kid is nearing the age of being the 2.5 generation to potentially die in some sandpit for Eretz Yisrael.

 

[It's HK-47]

Yeah, what the fuck was he doing there? I mean, obviously, but come on, how did dude think it was a good idea to go to Iraq in person?

No, the really strange part is that Qasem Soleimani died years ago. I don't for a second believe that he was killed in these airstrikes; I believe that this is Iran trying to come out and "admit" to his death in a way that would allow them to escalate in response.

I have to do a lot of digging right now, though. I never expected that they'd openly admit to the fact that he was dead.

 

[Superman93]

I've given trump for shit for being all talk and no action but holy fucking shit he wasn't kidding this time

 

[Dom Cruise]

Let’s face it, if you looked up inevitable in the dictionary you’d find “a war with Iran”

This has literally been only a matter of time.

 

[roxitp0w3rwuzdabest420]

30 year old has 10 year old son. Dad fights in desert storm. Son grows up and has a son. He fights in Iraq. Now its the grandsons turn to do the right thing and die in a desert shithole country.