US and Iran on brink of war after airstrike kills most powerful military leader Qasem Soleimani

  • Iran's top military commander killed in US drone strike
  • Trump ordered attack on general's convoy in Iraq
  • Fears of war grow as Iranian leader vows 'harsh revenge'
  • Follow our live updates here

The United States moved to the brink of war with Iran today after launching an airstrike which killed Tehran’s most powerful military commander.

Donald Trump ordered the rocket attack on Major General Qasem Soleimani when his convoy was spotted leaving Baghdad airport in Iraq early this morning.

Tensions rose rapidly as Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of retribution against the US, saying: “Harsh revenge awaits the criminals.”

The US President, who was at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida, did not comment but tweeted an image of the American flag.

Joe Biden, his rival Democratic presidential frontrunner, said the attack was a “hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region”.

The former vice president added: “We could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East.”

Mr Biden went on to accuse Mr Trump of tossing “a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox”.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the attack — which also killed an Iraqi militia leader — would “light the fuse of a destructive war” in his country and beyond.

General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike ordered by Donald Trump
Getty Images / PA

The US Embassy in Baghdad told US citizens in Iraq to depart immediately. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a foreign visit to return home. This morning the UK Government called for calm, and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was due to discuss the crisis with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mr Raab said: “We have always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds force led by Qasem Soleimani. Following his death, we urge all parties to de-escalate. Further conflict is in none of our interests.”

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged de-escalation
REUTERS

The killing of Soleimani, the mastermind of Tehran’s military strategy across the Middle East, was said by analysts to be more significant than the killings of Osama Bin Laden or Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

As the head of Iran’s elite special forces Quds Force, Soleimani was a cult hero for some in Iran with direct access to Ayatollah Khamenei.

But he was regarded as the leader of a terrorist organisation by the US and blamed for masterminding attacks on US diplomats and military personnel and fuelling conflicts in Syria and Iraq over the last two decades.

The attack happened as two cars were spotted leaving Baghdad airport. Soleimani, 62, is thought to have flown in from Syria or Iran with an entourage.

He was one of up to seven people killed in the US MQ-9 Reaper drone precision attack. Four missiles were fired. Soleimani was identified by his ring.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, which was behind Tuesday’s attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad, was also killed.

The destroyed vehicle following the US air strike
IRAQI MILITARY/AFP via Getty Ima

The Pentagon was braced for retaliatory terror and cyber attacks on US interests.

In a statement, it said President Trump had ordered “decisive defensive action” to protect US personnel abroad.

The Pentagon said: “General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.

“He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months — including the attack on December 27 — culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel.”

Tom Fletcher, the UK’s former ambassador to Lebanon, said it was “hard to overstate the potential impact” of Soleimani’s death.

He said that Iran had been “goading Washington, goading Donald Trump”, adding: “And of course, we don’t just have erratic leaders at the moment in Tehran, we have an erratic leader in Washington as well.”

Tensions between the US and Iran had been rising since the US last year pulled out of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers to curb Iran’s nuclear programme and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. The US also reimposed sanctions on Iran, sending its economy into freefall.

Today the price of oil rose to the highest level in three months at nearly US$70 a barrel due to fears that the crisis would hit supplies.

Republicans in Washington hailed Mr Trump’s move to bring “justice” to American military families. The President’s campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed the killing of Soleimani was the “greatest foreign policy accomplishment, I would say, of the decade, if not our lifetime”.

But the operation also reignited the debate in Washington over whether the President’s war powers should be curtailed after Mr Trump bypassed Congress to approve the killing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi complained the strike was carried out “without the consultation of Congress”.

She said: “American leaders’ highest priority is to protect American lives and interests. But we cannot put the lives of American service members, diplomats and others further at risk by engaging in provocative and disproportionate actions. Tonight’s airstrike risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence.”

Alistair Burt, the former UK minister to the Middle East, said the drone strike “takes the confrontation between the United States and Iran to a completely different level”

He told the BBC: “It’s very hard to see what the consequences will be. I’m quite sure the United States will have to come out with more justification for its actions.

“But I think everyone has got to have extremely cool heads this morning. This is a very grave escalation in the affairs of the region, the consequences are unknowable and I think words and comments have got to be extremely carefully handled today.”

Asked whether the UK Government would have been told about the US airstrike plans before they happened, Mr Burt added: “I doubt it.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani is an extremely serious and dangerous escalation of conflict in the Middle East with global significance.

“The UK Government should urge restraint on the part of both Iran and the US.”

The incident has also raised fears for the safety of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is in prison in Iran.

Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I sit here partly worried for what that means for Nazanin, partly worried what that means for my in-laws, sat in their ordinary living room in Tehran where they’re all really worried.”

The Foreign Office advises British-Iranian dual nationals against all travel to Iran and for other British nationals to seek the department’s advice before travelling to the nation.

British nationals risk being arbitrarily detained or arrested by Tehran, the department warns.

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