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WASHINGTON – President Trump on Wednesday warned Iran that he would hold him accountable “if an American is killed” in rocket attacks in Iraq that the Trump administration and military officials blamed on Tehran.
In one Twitter message after a meeting with senior officials at the White House, Mr Trump said Iran was behind rocket attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad on Sunday. “Some friendly health tips for Iran”, Mr. Trump tweeted. “If an American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Reflect.”
His post was followed by a statement from the United States Central Command, which called Sunday’s attacks the largest in a decade. “The rocket attack on December 20, 2020 on the Green Zone in Iraq was almost certainly carried out by an Iranian-backed rogue militia group,” said Captain Bill Urban, a spokesperson for Central Command, in the press release. He added that the 21 rocket attack was “clearly NOT intended to avoid casualties”.
The attack killed at least one Iraqi civilian and damaged the embassy compound. This adds to the growing tensions between the United States and Iran in the final days of Mr. Trump’s presidency. Last month, the president was dissuaded from hitting Iran after his aides warned it could escalate into a larger conflict in his final weeks in office.
During these discussions, Mr. Trump raised the idea of attacking Iran to force it to stop developing its nuclear program. Such an attack would deal a blow to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who wants to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s foreign policy signature from which Mr. Trump withdrew in 2018. a strike on the eve of a new administration could poison relations with Tehran to such an extent that relaunching the agreement would be impossible.
A strike in retaliation for rocket attacks in Iraq could also hurt future relations, although probably not as much as a strike on an Iranian nuclear facility, a Defense Department official said. But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the White House meeting was private, said the decision from that meeting on Wednesday was to stick to stern verbal warnings for now.
Since Mr. Trump sacked Mark T. Esper as Secretary of Defense last month, along with other senior Pentagon officials, the Department of Defense and other national security officials have privately voiced concerns. fears that the president may launch operations, covert or open, against Iran and other adversaries at the end of his term.
Officials say a strike could be inevitable if Americans are killed before opening day. Officials were particularly worried about the January 3 anniversary of the US strike that killed General Qassim Suleimani, the commander of the elite Iranian Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iraqi leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. ‘an Iranian-backed militia – dead that Iranian leaders routinely insist they have yet to avenge.
In Iraq, the rocket attacks that the United States has long said were linked to Iran are a staple. But Pentagon officials fear any increase in those attacks could give Mr. Trump a reason to fight back. “The United States will hold Iran responsible for the deaths of any American resulting from the work” of Iranian-backed militias, the Central Command statement said.
Over the past two weeks, Central Command has flown B-52 bombers in the region in a show of force, sent an additional squadron of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, kept the aircraft carrier Nimitz in the region and has announced that he would send a Tomahawk-firing Submarine. All of these measures, military officials said, are in the name of deterrence.
Eric Schmitt contribution to reports.
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