An Iraqi military air base housing U.S. troops in Iraq’s Al Anbar province was hit by more than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iran on Wednesday local time, according to the Pentagon.
“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
It is unclear whether there is any damage to the Al-Assad air base, which President Donald Trump visited last month, or whether there were any casualties.
Iranian state TV described it as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, according to the Associated Press. NBC News has not confirmed the report.
The state TV report said the operation’s name was “Martyr Soleimani.” It said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division that controls the country’s missile program launched the attack.
The White House said in a statement it was aware of the reports of attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq.
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“The President has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.
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The attack comes just days after Trump ordered an airstrike that killed Soleimani, the high-profile commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed Friday that the country “will take revenge” for the general’s death.
Soleimani was one of the most influential figures in the Middle East, having developed a network of powerful militia groups whose clandestine reach stretched into Iraq, Syria and beyond.
The U.S. base attack is the latest development in the rapidly deteriorating relations with Iran. Tensions began simmering again after Trump unilaterally withdrew from a nuclear deal between Iran and several world powers in May 2018.
European allies have tried to salvage the deal, which restricted nuclear development in exchange for the easing of crippling economic sanctions. The agreement limited Tehran’s uranium enrichment, the amount of enriched uranium it could stockpile, as well as nuclear research and development.
Iran announced on Sunday that it would no longer be abiding by the agreement and that recent events meant Iran would take an even bigger step away from the deal than it had initially planned.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said there “will no longer be any restriction on number of centrifuges.”
Trump’s decision to target Soleimani was met with mixed reactions, as some feared the general’s death would lead to another war in the Middle East.
Trump warned Saturday that he had 52 potential targets “very important to Iran & the Iranian culture” if Iran planned a retaliatory attack. The figure symbolizes the number of hostages held by Iran in 1979, when 52 American diplomats and citizens were held for 444 days.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday that the world “cannot afford to have tensions escalate to the point of no return.”
“The full Congress must be immediately briefed on this serious situation and on the next steps under consideration by the Administration, including the significant escalation of the deployment of additional troops to the region,” Pelosi said.
Associated Press contributed.
