Over the past several days, a series of escalations have occurred between Iran and the US that could lead to a larger war in the Middle East and increase the threat of terrorism on the US homeland. The following is a summary of the events to date as they unfold.
December 29th, 2019
The US conducted airstrikes against Iran backed Shia militia groups operating in Iraq and Syria. The groups were responsible for conducting attacks on US military personnel operating in the region.
December 31st, 2019
Protests organized by Iran broke out at the US Embassy in Bagdad, Iraq. The protesters broke through the embassy gates and set fires. The Trump administration deployed a crisis response task force to secure the embassy and began deploying additional troops and equipment into the Middle East. In addition, President Trump threatened Iran via Twitter, stating that they would pay a big price for the embassy attack.
January 3rd, 2020
A United States drone strike killed Major General Qassem Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp in a drone strike in Iraq. Soleimani was a highly influential figure in Iran and his assassination represented a major blow to the Iranian regime.
US, Israeli, and other forces in the Middle East were put on high alert for fears of Iranian retaliation.
January 4th, 2020
Iran raised a symbolic red flag above the holiest site in country to indicate that a severe battle of revenge was to come as the top Iranian military commander stated that they had 35 US targets in sight for military retaliation. President Trump responds to Iranian retaliation threats by stating the US has 52 high value Iranian targets in sight and will strike them “very hard and very fast” if Iran takes any action against the US.
Iran turned down offers from several nations to mediate, stating that it seeks only revenge. The Trump administration also warned Congress that Iranian military retaliation was possible in the coming weeks. The US Department of Homeland Security released a Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin stating that Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah, have “demonstrated the intent and capability to conduct operations in the United States” via suspected sleeper cells.
At the same time, the US is conducting large scale military movements into the Middle East.
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