No nation has yet to take credit for multiple strikes against an Iranian front group base in Iraq south of Basra in the Baybylon Governate. Kalsu Hashd al-Shaabi base is believed to have a large cache of weapons stockpiled. The United States has made strikes on this particular militia before. President Biden informed Congress of strikes in Syria and Iraq in early February.
This story is developing news as it just happened. Twitter has posted videos of the attack; the explosions did not appear anywhere else in Iraq.
Twitter also noted that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was also targeted. Commander-in-Chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces and Iraqi Premier met with President Biden on April 16. He is still in the United States, meeting with American officials.
Twitter user Khalisse just posted the strikes came from Jordan; Jordan shot down multiple drones and missiles when Iran launched them toward Israel. Another Twitter user confirmed her tweet; ”Burj 22 base in the Rukban area, northeastern Jordan, near the Jordanian-Syrian border.”.
h/t Crimson Quill feather for the video from Al Jazeera.
From the LA Times. The story is still developing.
WASHINGTON —
President Biden on Monday hailed the “unprecedented military effort to defend Israel” on Monday as he hosted Iraq’s leader at the White House and his administration aims to prevent an escalation in Mideast hostilities following Iran’s weekend attack.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was visiting the White House for talks intended to focus primarily on U.S.-Iraq relations, which had been scheduled well before the Iranian strikes. But Saturday’s drone and missile launches, including some that overflew Iraqi airspace and others that were launched from Iraq by Iran-backed groups, have underscored the delicate relationship between Washington and Baghdad.
The sharp increase in regional tensions over Israel’s war in Gaza and the weekend developments have raised further questions about the viability of the two-decade American military presence in Iraq. However, a U.S. Patriot battery in Irbil, Iraq, did shoot down at least one Iranian ballistic missile, according to American officials, one of dozens of missiles and drones destroyed by U.S. forces alongside Israeli efforts to defeat the attack.
After meeting with Biden, the Iraqi leader flew to Michigan yesterday morning to meet with the Middle East community.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The leader of Iraq traveled to Michigan on Thursday following a sit-down with President Joe Biden to meet with the state's large Iraqi community and update them on escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s weekend aerial assault on Israel.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's trip to both Washington and Michigan to discuss U.S.-Iraq relations had been planned well before Saturday's drone and missile launches from Iran-backed groups. The visit has been thrust into the spotlight as tensions in the region escalate following the strike, which included drone and missile launches that overflew Iraqi airspace and others that were launched from Iraq by Iran-backed groups.
Michigan holds one of the largest populations of Iraqis in the nation and many local Democrats have pushed back against U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The state holds the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country.
The Iraqi prime minister was met by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans upon arrival Thursday in addition to multiple leaders within the area's Arab American community, including Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad I. Turfe and Dearborn’s state Rep. Alabas Farhat.
A motorcade of over 40 cars then traveled to a mosque in Dearborn Heights where the prime minister met with Iraqi community members and officials to give an update on his meeting with Biden talking about the economic relations between Iraq and the U.S.