BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Iran has retaliated against the US with missile strikes on American military targets in Iraq.
The attacks Tuesday night were in direct response to the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, who was considered by many in Washington to be a terrorist. He was killed in US airstrikes near Baghdad International Airport last week.
Overnight, two volleys of missiles from Iran hit Iraq military bases that house U.S soldiers. So far it is not believed that anyone was killed in the attacks.
Jamsheed Choksy is a professor of Eurasian Studies at Indiana University. He’s not surprised at the retaliation from the Iranian government, but he is perplexed at the execution of it.
“This sort of large scale volley of missiles is extremely unusual,” said Choksy to WISH-TV. “In the Middle East, you normally see these kinds of volleys from groups like Hamas or Hezbollah against Israel, not from Iran directly against Israel or the U.S.”
“This time I think things have changed. Iranian’s feel they can take on the United States directly. But, I think they are going to realize that the United States is the far greater firepower.”
Iranian-American groups like National Iranian American Council (NIAC) issued a statement last night saying they “condemn all military escalations” and they feel it’s not too late to “pull back from talks of war.”
NIAC is calling for a diplomatic solution to the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, but Choksy said that’s unlikely.
(PHOTO: CNN)
