Iran Fires Missiles at Iraqi Military Facilities


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On January 7, Iran fired at least 16 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. military and coalition personnel. The salvo launch — which reportedly involved the Qiam and Fateh-313 missiles — targeted Iraq’s Ain al-Assad airbase and a Special Operations facility in Erbil. According to a U.S. officials, 11 missiles struck Ain al-Assad, one hit the facility in Erbil, and four failed. The attack comes in response to the United States’ killing of IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassim Soleimani on January 2. Anonymous U.S. and European government sources say Iran purposely avoided killing U.S. military personnel in the attack to avoid further escalation, although this theory is disputed.

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Shaan Shaikh, "Iran Fires Missiles at Iraqi Military Facilities," Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 8, 2020, last modified January 23, 2020, https://missilethreat.csis.org/iran-fires-missiles-at-iraqi-military-facilities/.