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.

.

 

[verissimus]

@Cedric_Eff Wouldn't know, I'm not that familiar with the subject.

@Varg Did Nothing Wrong Ok, but that's not what you originally mentioned. You specifically were referring to radar detection specifically and that's what I responded to. Details matter.

 

[not william stenchever]

I'd hope anything more substantial than some random fucker with a MANPADS has the tech to read IFF signals attached to it. It was probably some young dumb paramilitary who wanted to kill the Americans, save Tehran, and get his 72 virgins here on Earth. I think something like that is more likely than someone in the Iranian command structure giving an actual command to shoot down a bunch of native and dual citizen Iranians, but I could very much be wrong.

 

[bippu_as_fuck_ls400]

Quickest way to confirm they shot it down, and the final broadcast is probably the angry Ukranian Pilot calling Kohmeni Control Tower they're a bunch of cunts.

You're mistaken, Iran says they didn't declare an emergency. We all know they would never lie.



Ukrainian flight did not declare emergency before crash: Iranian media
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-crash-emergency-idUSKBN1Z70SB (http://archive.vn/OHZOx)

DUBAI (Reuters) - A Ukrainian airliner with 176 aboard that crashed in Iran on Wednesday did not declare an emergency, Iranian media said, quoting an official of the Iran Civil Aviation Organization.

The comments were made by Hassan Rezaeifar, the general director of the body’s panel to investigate aircraft accidents.

Foreigners accounted for 32 of those on board, state television said.

The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport due to technical problems, killing all on board, state media said.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

@Varg Did Nothing Wrong Ok, but that's not what you originally mentioned. You specifically were referring to radar detection specifically and that's what I responded to. Details matter.

We were talking about why state or nonstate actors would shoot down civilian airliners, and why (supposedly) civilian planes aren't operated in military roles because Secret Asshole thinks that a SAM system or radar can tell the difference between a 4 engine military transport and a 4 engine civilian jet liner or cargo plane.

 

[DocHoliday1977]

Iran needs an intervention and a few life skill classes.

These people are struggling. Maybe the Ayatollah has late stage dementia.

 

[Sped Xing]

Stark:"Friendorfoe Friendorfoe Friendorfoe"
Rygel: "Shut up, you idiot! Of course it's a foe-- we don't have any friends!"

 

[Super-Chevy454]

I guess it's time to refresh some memories about that killed Iranian general.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/dems_forget_soleimanis_plot_to_bomb_washington.html ( http://archive.ph/ai9YK )

January 8, 2020
Dems Forget Soleimani's Plot to Bomb Washington
By Daniel John Sobieski
One could conceivably hold House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responsible for the death-by-drone of Qassem Soleimani for she rushed impeachment of President Trump on the grounds we could not let him occupy the White House for even one more day lest our erratic commander-in-chief do something irrational. Then she unconstitutionally withheld the two cotton-candy Articles of Impeachment from delivery to the Senate for trial. Guess you waited too long, Nancy.

The killing of Soleimani was of course quite rational and quite ironic, as the Iranian general supposedly banned from international travel traveled the road from Baghdad International Airport on a road that has seen the deaths some of the 600 Americans killed by the explosively-formed-penetrators his forces supplied to Iraqi militias, not to mention the thousands maimed by them.

Perhaps President Trump should invite some of the families of the soldiers Soleimani murdered and some of the wounded warriors he maimed so Pelosi could look up at them and see why the killing of enemy combatant Soleimani in a war zone as he plotted to turn our embassy in Baghdad into another hostage crisis or worse, another Benghazi, was justified.

Of course, one could also speculate that Speaker Pelosi and a few of those Democrats calling the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, a war crime might not be alive today if Iran’s most “revered” general had carried out his plot to bomb a Washington D.C. restaurant full of Americans in a plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. As NBC News reported on October 10, 2011:

Two men, including a member of Iran's special foreign actions unit known as the Quds Force, were charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir. Justice Department officials say the men tried to hire a purported member of a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the assassination with a bomb attack while Al-Jubeir dined at his favorite restaurant…
Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, was charged along with Gholam Shakuri, who authorities said was a Quds Force member and remains at large in Iran. The Treasury Department listed addresses for Arbabsiar in two Texas cities -- the Austin suburb of Round Rock and the Gulf city of Corpus Christi -- and prosecutors say he frequently traveled to Mexico for business.
The complaint filed in federal court says Arbabsiar confessed that his cousin Abdul Reza Shahlai was a high-ranking member of the Quds Force who told him to hire someone in the narcotics business to target Al-Jubeir. U.S. authorities described Shakuri as Shahlai's deputy who helped provide funding for the plot. Shahlai was identified by the Treasury Department in 2008, during George W. Bush's administration, as a Quds deputy commander who planned the Jan. 20, 2007, attack in Karbala, Iraq, that killed five American soldiers and wounded three others.
Arbabsiar, Shakuri, Shahlai and two others -- Qasem Soleimani, a Quds commander who allegedly oversaw the plot, and Hamed Abdollahi, a senior Quds officer who helped coordinate -- were sanctioned Tuesday by the Treasury Department for their alleged involvement. The department described all except Arbabsiar as Quds officers.
A senior U.S. official told NBC News that U.S. intelligence has a "high degree" of confidence that the "Quds Force at the highest levels" was involved in the alleged plot and that this was not some "rogue operation."

 

[verissimus]

I'd hope anything more substantial than some random fucker with a MANPADS has the tech to read IFF signals attached to it. It was probably some young dumb paramilitary who wanted to kill the Americans, save Tehran, and get his 72 virgins here on Earth. I think something like that is more likely than someone in the Iranian command structure giving an actual command to shoot down a bunch of native and dual citizen Iranians, but I could very much be wrong.

People with itchy trigger fingers are always plausible.

 

[ForTheHoard]

I got the notion to look up an English speaking, Ukrainian news site, and they have released the nationalities of the passengers on the downed Ukrainian airline. No Americans, but without names, we won't know how many Burisma executives were on that flight.


Iran - 82
Canada - 63
Ukraine - 11 (9 were crew)
Sweden - 10
Afghanistan - 4
Germany - 3
Great Britain - 3

Archive

Ukrainian Boeing crash in Iran: FM reports number, citizenship of victims

Local emergency services say no one survived in the crash.

www.unian.info

 

[Pepito The Cat]

More hungry, deprived of medical supplies and economically pushed to breaking points by US sanctions and US using its power to make other countries sanction it as well. Iran has been being backed against the wall for years now. Make someone desperate enough and eventually they'll strike out at you whether the odds are in their favour or not.

Look, man, everyone is entitled to an opinion but I recommend you to drop that ignorant globalist point of view or, at least, read a little before going full USA = BAD. Iran is no victim here. Their population is little more than hostages to a bunch of religious madmen in charge of a country that could be one of the biggest and most prosper oil superpowers on earth but decided to spread violence and hatred all around the globe. Qassem Suleimani was behind the only two terrorist attacks my country ever had where +500 people died for the cardinal sin of living next to an embassy or work in or near a jewish cultural center.

And this shit has been systematic. They have or had presence in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Russia, China, Ukraine, Croatia, Irak, etc. Every time there's shit going down where people get killed by the ton, they seem to have a foothold in the region. Stop thinking they're helpless victims just because there are bigger and better armed countries out there. They're scum.

Let me make my point dead simple. You go to Washington and you have your Jefferson memorial, your Lincoln memorial, your Washington monument, your WWII memorial... they have this:

If this little monument doesn't snap you their entire ideology, I don't know what does.

 

[{o}P II]

So, to recap, Iran's "great revenge" has consisted of:
-Killing around 30 of their own people in stampede at Qassem Soleimani's funeral
-Flinging shit-tier missiles at a random patch of desert, failing to hit a single American
-Offering to call it good and go home
-Shooting down a foreign civilian plane leaving their own capital, killing a large number of their own people plus random foreigners

Why are we afraid of these people again?

Its less Iran itself and more who they are friends with if either Russia or china pitch in in america and irans shitflinging contest we are all fucked

 

[murdered meat bag]

How will those european countries react? will they blame orange man for getting their citizens killed? or will they point fingers at iran for killing them?

or both?

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Breaking News Global on Twitter

“BREAKING: No survivors after Ukranian passenger jet crashes near Tehran”

twitter.com

This was a pretty big show of incompetence.

I didn't think I would use this reaction shot so soon..buuuutt

Spoiler

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Iran will not give black box from crashed Ukrainian airliner to Boeing: Mehr
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-crash-black-box-idUSKBN1Z71C7 (http://archive.vn/o6qSh)

(Reuters) - Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran's civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analyzed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Yep, called it. This is the reason the Soviets held onto KAL007's black boxes and denied access to them for nearly ten years after they shot it down. CVR and flight data tells all. Says it all to me. They fucked up and know it, and the loss of face in this level of self-perpetuated calamity on top of getting their bluff called and old Salami splattered in one week is way too much to handle. They're a pariah already. Shooting down a civilian aircraft full of their own people .... well, add laughing stock to that.

Funny how whoever from the regime was wanking about IR655 only a day or two ago eh?

I imagine they'll find a way to not let anyone not domestic and beholden to the regime study the wreckage either.

 

[who dare wins?]

Look, man, everyone is entitled to an opinion but I recommend you to drop that ignorant globalist point of view or, at least, read a little before going full USA = BAD. Iran is no victim here. Their population is little more than hostages to a bunch of religious madmen in charge of a country that could be one of the biggest and most prosper oil superpowers on earth but decided to spread violence and hatred all around the globe. Qassem Suleimani was behind the only two terrorist attacks my country ever had where +500 people died for the cardinal sin of living next to an embassy or work in or near a jewish cultural center.

And this shit has been systematic. They have or had presence in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Russia, China, Ukraine, Croatia, Irak, etc. Every time there's shit going down where people get killed by the ton, they seem to have a foothold in the region. Stop thinking they're helpless victims just because there are bigger and better armed countries out there. They're scum.

All of those middle eastern towel heads are scum and savages, I don't expect anything out of them. I also wonder what nation you live in considering your nation has only had 2 terrorist attacks, which is very impressive.

How will those european countries react? will they blame orange man for getting their citizens killed? or will they point fingers at iran for killing them?

or both?

Probably the populace will do "orange man bad" but the politicians might probably blame Ukraine for flying their in the first place. Honestly they will probably join America with "Iran bad", which remember they did frame the dead US troops of operation eagle claw

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Also, can we have an official Iran Lolcow thread now?

In a single night they managed to Shoot a Missile at an Ukrainian plane and an American Airbase yet almost killed more Iranians than they did anyone else (Plz if God is watching..reach down and save 2 Canadians for the memes)

Also it is a shame they shot 38 missiles instead of 37.

if they shot 37 missiles..we could have all the Clerks memes involved in this.

 

[Vince McMahon]

Shitty day. I hope someone is with the relatives of the killed and providing them at least some sort of consolation.

 

[Cat Menagerie]

No, it is not plagued with issues. The 737-800 (NG) is from the same family but precedes the MAX. UR-PSR was delivered to this airline brand new in 2016.

 

[Clem Fandango]

I got the notion to look up an English speaking, Ukrainian news site, and they have released the nationalities of the passengers on the downed Ukrainian airline. No Americans, but without names, we won't know how many Burisma executives were on that flight.


Iran - 82
Canada - 63
Ukraine - 11 (9 were crew)
Sweden - 10
Afghanistan - 4
Germany - 3
Great Britain - 3

Archive

Ukrainian Boeing crash in Iran: FM reports number, citizenship of victims

Local emergency services say no one survived in the crash.

www.unian.info

Fuck me, 56 Iranians die in stampede at Suleimanii funeral, now they shoot down a plane and kill 82 more of their own citizens. That's 138x kill multiplier on the drone strike, good work!

At this rate Iran is going to wipe themselves out without any further US intervention.

 

[ForTheHoard]

The CBC just broke their story on all the dead Canadians in the crash less than 10 minutes ago. I checked their article, and while they spend a ton of time talking about the cause of the crash, they heavily allude to mechanical failure or pilot error. This makes Canada and Iran pretty much the only two countries saying Iran dindu nuffin.

Archive

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-ukraine-air-crash-canadians-tehran-1.5418610

Edit: "Ukraine International Airlines said it had indefinitely suspended flights to Tehran after the crash." You know, because Tehran is prone to causing catastrophic mechanical failures.
I sent my DoD contractor buddy the pictures that look like shrapnel hit the wings. He says it looks super suspicious, as the only other plausible explanation for damage like that on the wing could be the engine throwing blades, but that causes outward sheering of the airframe 99% of the time. Those holes were punched by something that penetrated the wing on the opposite side of the engines. Based on my brief experience in emergency reclamation, I can't argue with his statement.