The attack struck Al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq, the official said, adding they were “conducting a postattack damage assessment” and would share more information when it is available.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the attack. Al-Asad has come under sporadic fire by Iraqi armed groups in the past. It was also attacked by Iranian ballistic missiles in January 2020, following the American drone assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the anti-terror icon, in Baghdad.
The flare-up in Iraq comes as the US and Israel are bracing for an Iranian attack. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran last week, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, though it rarely acknowledges covert operations in countries it is not at direct war with.
Israeli forces last week also claimed responsibility for a strike against the top Hezbollah military leader, Fuad Shukr, who was the right-hand man to the Lebanese group’s leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has been firing daily at Israel over the border since the war in the Gaza Strip began nearly 10 months ago. But after the deaths of Haniyeh and Shukr, a larger retaliation from Hezbollah and Iran is spurring fears across the Middle East.
Washington has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Middle East, along with additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers and a fighter squadron, to prepare for any Iranian and Hezbollah attack.
