Iran’s supreme leader warned Wednesday that the country’s Tuesday night attack on military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops is “not enough” retaliation against America.
“They were slapped last night, but such military actions are not enough,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said both on Twitter and in a televised speech.
“Military operations do not suffice. What is important in addition to retaliation is to end the U.S.’s corrupting presence in the region,” Khamenei said.
Tehran on Tuesday launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles aimed at two Iraqi bases in Ain al-Asad and Irbil in Kurdistan. The act of aggression was a response to the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, who was killed Friday in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad.
The U.S. airstrike was retaliation for the attacks by Iran-backed militiamen on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad last week, which Soleimani signed off on.
No U.S. or Iraqi troops were reported killed in the attacks.
“The U.S. has caused wars, division, sedition, destruction, and the demolition of infrastructures in this region,” Khamenei proclaimed. “Of course, they do this everywhere in the world. This region won’t accept the U.S. presence. Governments elected by nations won’t accept the presence of the U.S.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif struck a more conciliatory tone after the attacks, insisting that Iran does “not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”
President Trump was optimistic in his appraisal of the Iranian attacks.
“All is well,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!”