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80 people dead in Iran's missile attack on US bases in Iraq — Tasnim News Agency

As a result of a missile strike 104 infrastructure facilities at US military bases were destroyed

TASS, January 8. 80 people were killed in Iran’s missile attack on US bases in Iraq, Tasnim agency reported citing a source in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Earlier, CNN said citing sources that the missiles launched by the Iranian side hit the part of the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq were no American troops were stationed.

In addition, it was noted that as a result of a missile strike 104 infrastructure facilities at US military bases were destroyed.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran delivered missile strikes against at least two military facilities in western Iraq, where US troops are deployed, a statement from Assistant to the US Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jonathan Hoffman stated.

The IRGC officially claimed the responsibility for the missile attacks stating that US forces, which are involved in acts of aggression against Iran, would be subjected to military attacks. Iran’s news agency ISNA quoted a statement from the IRGC as saying that the operation in Iraq was code-named ‘Martyr Soleimani.’

The situation in the Middle East deteriorated sharply after the Pentagon announced on January 3 that Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the elite wing of the Iranian military) General Qasem Soleimani had been killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad airport. The missile strike came on order of US President Donald Trump.

According to the US Administration, the operation was defensive, as it was aimed at protecting US troops stationed in the Middle East. According to Washington, the attacks planned by the Iranian general could have led to the deaths of hundreds of Americans and Iraqis.

After the attack, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council vowed at an emergency session to exact "severe revenge" on those involved in the killing of Soleimani, blaming the US for the attack. In a telephone call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the attack as an act of terrorism by the US.