Reuters
Iranian people burn American and Israeli flags during the funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Tehran, Iran January 6, 2020.
- Less than a week after President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Iran's top general, the US is facing a mess largely of its own creation.
- The strike, which took place in Baghdad, has united Iraqis and Iranians against the US.
- Meanwhile, Trump is virtually friendless on the global stage.
- And though Trump pledged to pull the US out of the Middle East and end "stupid endless wars," the US is now sending thousands of more troops to the region.
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In the four days since President Donald Trump ordered a strike that killed Iran's most important military leader, the provocative move has already created a huge mess for American interests - with Iran vowing reprisals and leaving the nuclear deal as more US troops head to the tense region.
Trump, who took a break from golfing to order the deadly strike while at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, said the strike was meant to "stop a war." But fears of a new conflict have only gone up in the days since, as Iran has vowed to avenge the death of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani - the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) elite Quds force.
The strike has seemingly pushed Iraq into the arms of Iran - and after months of Iraqis protesting in the streets against Tehran's overwhelming influence in their country's internal affairs. The Soleimani strike has seen anti-Iran demonstrations morph into anti-American fervor.
Iraq is turning against the US
Thousands of Iraqis mourned Soleimani's death over the weekend, as the Iraqi parliament voted to expel US forces from the country (there are roughly 5,200 US troops in Iraq). This prompted Trump to threaten Iraq with sanctions harsher than those the US has imposed on Iran.
"If they do ask us to leave, if we don't do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before ever," Trump said on Sunday. "It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."
"If there's any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq," Trump added.
The US forces in Iraq were there to prevent ISIS from making a comeback, but US military officials on Sunday announced that anti-ISIS operations are suspended amid the escalating tensions following Soleimani's killing. The officials cited attacks on Iraqi and US bases over the last two months.
"This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations," a statement from Operation Inherent Resolve said. "We have therefore paused these activities."
On top of this, Iran on Sunday announced it's no longer complying with any of the restrictions on its nuclear program under the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The deal had been crumbling ever since Trump withdrew the US from it in May 2018, but other signatories to the deal, including key US allies, had been working to salvage it. Iran may have just put the final nail in the coffin, and this move could be perceived as a step toward obtaining a nuclear weapon.
On Monday, the Defense Department notified Iraq that it will be withdrawing troops "out of Iraq" in coming days and weeks.
Trump is virtually friendless amid the tensions with Iran
Trump also made comments on Saturday that have seemingly unnerved top US allies. In threats aimed at Iran, the president said that if any "Americans" or "American assets" are hit then the US will strike 52 targets. Trump said that "Iranian culture" sites could be among the targets. Targeting cultural sites in armed conflict could be considered a war crime, but Trump doubled down on the threat on Sunday.
"They're allowed to kill our people," Trump said to reporters. "They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people, and we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way."
Subsequently, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Trump that any attempt to target Iranian cultural sites would be a breach of international law.
"There are international conventions in place that prevent the destruction of cultural heritage," a spokesperson for Johnson said.
"You can read the international conventions for themselves," the spokesperson added. "It is the 1954 Hague Convention for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict."
Trump has made a habit of pushing leaders of traditional US allies away, but Johnson has been among the few he's remained on good terms with.
Getty
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Indeed, the president appears to be virtually friendless on the global stage, with only Israel coming out in full support of the deadly strike on Soleimani.
Along these lines, as he spoke with Fox News about Soleimani's killing on Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "Frankly, the Europeans haven't been as helpful as I wish that they could be."
"The Brits, the French, the Germans all need to understand that what we did, what the Americans did, saved lives in Europe as well," Pompeo said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said the alliance stands behind the US, but also stopped short of endorsing the strike that killed Soleimani.
Stoltenberg also refused to offer a clear answer on whether the alliance would come to the US's defense under its mutual defense clause (Article 5) if it's attacked by Iran. When questioned about it at a press conference in Brussels on Monday, Stoltenberg said commenting on the matter would "not help to de-escalate," Bloomberg reported.
The US is sending more troops to the Middle East and Iran is united against it
Reuters
U.S Army paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division prepare to board an aircraft bound for the U.S. Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, U.S. January 4, 2020.
Though Trump as recently as October said he was pulling the US from "stupid endless wars," the US in recent days announced it's sending an additional 3,500 troops to the Middle East amid the heightened tensions with Iran.
"The brigade will deploy to Kuwait as an appropriate and precautionary action in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities, and will assist in reconstituting the reserve," a Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement, per ABC News.
Iran had also been experiencing internal unrest in recent months linked to its struggling economy, in some cases resulting in the government killing demonstrators in the streets - it's been called the worst rioting since the Iranian revolution . But Soleimani's death seems to have united the country in grief - and in anger toward the US and Trump - with massive crowds coming out to pay their respects to the slain general on Monday.
The sea of people chanted "Death to America," according to the New York Times, the anti-US government refrain that dates back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
All the while, the Trump administration has not yet given a clear answer on the precise nature of the "imminent attack" it said was prevented by assassinating Soleimani, which has prompted uproar among Democrats in Congress and calls for limiting the president's war powers.
- Read more:
- Iran's 'forceful revenge' against the US is likely to include cyberwarfare, and experts warn that the attacks could be devastating
- Trump has no clear strategy if Iran makes good on its vow to avenge the killing of a top general, experts say
- This map shows where US-Iran tensions have flared in Iraq, which culminated in the strike killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani
- How the Trump administration got into a showdown with Iran that could lead to war
The first station for #Soleimani's funeral was #Ahvaz, the funeral continues in #Mashhad, then #Tehran, #Qom, and #Kerman... probably this is the biggest ever funeral in the history of #Iran pic.twitter.com/ngpCAUYDfH
- Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) January 5, 2020