Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles early on Wednesday targeting at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil, in Iraq.
Iranian state TV initially said it was in revenge for the US killing of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike at the Baghdad International Airport prompted angry calls to avenge his slaying.
Later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps confirmed that it fired rockets at a US airbase in Iraq in revenge for the killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, according to a statement.
Following the ballistic missile attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) barred US pilots and carriers from flying in areas of Iraqi, Iranian and some Persian Gulf airspace.
The agency warned of the potential for “miscalculation or misidentification for civilian aircraft” amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran. The emergency flight restrictions follow ballistic missile strikes Tuesday on two Iraqi bases that house US troops.