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IRAN'S ATTACKS ON US FACILITIES IN IRAQ

Tehran says Baghdad was notified ahead of Iranian missile strike on US bases

On January 17, the Defense One news website reported that 11 US servicemen were shell-shocked during the Iranian strike on the Ayn al-Asad airbase

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi

© AP Photo/Vahid Salemi

MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Iran warned Iraqi authorities about the Iranian missile strike on the Ayn al-Asad US military base in advance, says Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi, according to Tasnim News Agency.

"The Iraqi government was informed [by Iran] ahead of the missile strike on US Ayn al-Asad air base," Mousavi said, adding that "Iraqi security is very important for Tehran."

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The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated on January 3, following the widely-reported US drone strike near Baghdad airport, which killed Qasem Soleimani, a top general in Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force. In response, on January 8, Tehran retaliated with a missile barrage on two Iraqi facilities used by US forces: the Ayn al-Asad airbase and Erbil airport.

On January 17, the Defense One news website reported that 11 US servicemen were shell-shocked during the Iranian strike on the Ayn al-Asad airbase.

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