President Donald Trump threatened the Islamic Republic of Iran on Wednesday after Iranian rockets were allegedly used in an attack at the start of the week against the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
“At least eight Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an attack targeting the U.S. Embassy, causing some minor damage on the compound on Sunday,” Reuters reported earlier this week. “The Iraqi military said an ‘outlaw group’ fired eight rockets. Most of the missiles hit a residential complex and a security checkpoint inside the zone, damaging buildings and cars and wounding one Iraqi soldier, a military statement said.”
Trump responded to the attack by posting a photo on Twitter that allegedly showed three rockets that were used in the attack, but failed to launch.
“Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets. Three rockets failed to launch. Guess where they were from: IRAN. Now we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”
…Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2020
The attack on the U.S. Embassy comes as the Trump administration and Israel have looked for ways to take additional action against Iran during Trump’s final weeks in office as they fear that the incoming Biden administration will immediately try to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal.
At the end of last month, a top Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a highly coordinated and sophisticated attack near Tehran that experts believe top Israeli operatives were behind. Trump reportedly sought options last month for taking action against Iran’s main nuclear site but was later dissuaded by top U.S. officials.
A report this week revealed that the FBI had concluded that Iran was responsible for recent threats against top U.S. officials online.
“The FBI has concluded that Iran was behind online efforts earlier this month to incite lethal violence against the bureau’s director, a former top U.S. cyber expert and multiple state elections officials who have refuted claims of widespread voter fraud promoted by President Trump and his allies,” The Washington Post reported. “Iran was active in seeking to interfere in the U.S. election, targeting Democratic voters in October with fake but menacing emails that purported to be from a far-right group threatening recipients to vote for Trump ‘or we will come after you.'”
At the start of the year, the U.S. Military launched an attack killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani, one of the most powerful figures in Iran who was the head of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, which is a designated terrorist organization. Soleimani was one of the most prolific terrorists in the Middle East and was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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