IRAN, during the early hours of Wednesday, launched a dozen missiles at two US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of its top general, Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by an airstrike authorised by President Trump few days into the New Year.

A statement released by Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, confirmed that a dozen missiles were launched at Al-Asad and Erbil, which are Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel.

“At approximately 5:30 p.m. (EST) on January 7, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq. It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil,” the statement read.

No U.S. personnel was hit in the attack and only Iraqi casualties were recorded as Pentagon carried out its initial battle damage assessment.

In managing the looming war, the US banned all civilian flights over the Gulf region and flight diversions were activated.

On the other end, Iran defended the attack and promised to back down if the US chooses to let sleeping dogs lie.

This was stated in a tweet shared by Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, who owned up to the attack, saying that Iran acted  in line with the UN charter and warned that the country would defend itself against any further aggression.

The Western Asian country also promised to launch regional attacks on Israel and United Arab Emirates if provoked any more.

The attack was launched in retaliation to the killing of Soleimani, Iranian authorities have confirmed.

Former vice president of the United States, Joe Biden called out Trump in a statement and accused him of bringing Americans very close to starting a war.

In response to the attack, President Trump shared a first tweet, in which he said “all is well” and promised to address the American people at a later time.

Recall that the ICIR earlier reported that the United States Air Force launched 50 fully-armed Lightning II stealth fighters on Tuesday, sending a warning to Iran, while stating that it was a combat power exercise and later claiming  it to be mere coincidence that it was in line with the threat earlier made by President Trump in a tweet.