Military base housing US troops in Iraq hit by seven rockets

An air base that houses US troops north of Baghdad in Iraq was attacked with seven rockets on Monday., reported the agency AFP based on a security source.

Two rockets fell inside the base, while five more hit a nearby town. No casualties or material damage were reported inside the facilities.

The attack, which took place Monday evening at the Al-Balad base, is a new action that The North American country attributes to pro-Iranian militias operating in the territory, the fifth in a few weeks. However, no one immediately took responsibility.

The last such episode occurred on March 3, when another base – in western Iraq – was hit by ten projectiles. In this case, an American subcontractor died of a heart attack on the way to the shelter and died shortly after..

The United States did not respond to the attack, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time that the North American country “will do whatever it takes” to defend itself. He also urged the Iraqi authorities to confirm who was behind the incident.

“We want to make sure that, once again, we understand who is responsible. The message for those who carry out an attack like this is that they should expect us to do whatever it takes to defend ourselves, ”he said on“ This Week ”. ABC News, March 7.

“We will attack if that’s what we think we should do when and where we choose,” he added.

Five days earlier, the Biden administration had carried out a bombing raid in retaliation for previous attacks. It did so by bombing a border depot in Syria which the Pentagon said was being used by pro-Iran militias..

“This offensive was authorized in response to recent attacks on US and coalition personnel in Iraq, and continued threats against such personnel,” Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said at the time.

Analysts believe the rockets could be a way for Tehran to put pressure on Washington, which since Biden came to power has offered to reactivate the nuclear pact with Iran, abandoned by its predecessor Donald Trump in 2018.

However, negotiations are stalled because Iran calls for current economic sanctions to be lifted before sitting down to table, while US supports reverse approach. This led Tehran to refuse to participate in a meeting with the United States and European powers to discuss ways to reactivate the agreement.

The surveillance system in place is the product of an agreement between Iran and the IAEA, the UN nuclear agency. However, this is more limited and has a duration of three months which expires at the end of May.

Iran has defaulted on most of its nuclear commitments in response to sanctions. Despite the Persian regime’s denials, the latest violations of the agreement have put the international community on alert. The IAEA, the UN nuclear agency, reported in February that Tehran had started manufacturing uranium metal.

On February 8, the UN agency “verified 3.6 grams of uranium metal at the Isfahan plant” (in the center of the country). The question is sensitive since uranium metal can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

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