Thousands of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) supporters, many waving militia flags and some wearing military fatigues, descended on the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday. US marines fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters upon their arrival at the few meters of the embassy. Some of those who managed to reach the US embassy compound set fire to its reception area and pelted the building with stones.
Defense secretary Esper said he had authorized the immediate deployment of about 750 soldiers to the Central Command’s area of operations in the Middle East, as ordered by US President Donald Trump.
“Approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately & additional forces from the IRF are prepared to deploy over the next several days. This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today,” read a tweet from the US Secretary of Defense.
“The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world.”
Tuesday’s attack on the US embassy was in response to US force airstrikes on locations belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, a PMF militia, on Sunday. Strikes on a post in al-Qaim, close to the border with Syria, killed at least 25 members of the group.
The airstrikes were conducted following a spate of attacks on bases hosting US forces in Iraq – most recently, missile strikes on K-1 military base in Kirkuk on Sunday, killing one US contractor and wounding a number of American and Iraqi personnel.
The deployment of an infantry battalion from the Immediate Response Force (IRF) of the 82nd Airborne Division is to respond to the attacks on the embassy and the K-1 base, according to Esper. Additional troops could be deployed to the area in the coming days, he added.
US officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that the new forces will be based in Kuwait, and up to 4,000 others will be deployed in coming days. An unspecified number of US marines were deployed to Iraq from Kuwait on Tuesday night.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said early Wednesday that the Tuesday attack on their embassy “should not be confused with the legitimate efforts of the Iraqi protesters who have been in the streets since October working for the people of Iraq to end the corruption exported there by the Iranian regime.”
Asserting that the situation at the embassy had been de-escalated, President Trump warned Iran of consequences for the attack.
“The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE!,” he tweeted early on Wednesday, thanking Iraqi officials for their “rapid response upon request.”
“Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities,” he warned. “They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat.”
Trump spoke on the phone with Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi on late Tuesday, asking about the situation in Iraq and updates on their embassy in Baghdad.
Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned from his position early in December following nationwide protests, told Trump that "Iraqi security forces to continue to fulfill their duty to protect the US Embassy and other diplomatic missions and representations," according to a readout from Iraqi PM’s office.
The outgoing Iraqi premier also told Trump that his country sides with negotiations, reminded his American counterpart that both Washington and Tehran do not want war, and stressed that both countries have to reach an agreement.
"The US President Mr. Trump expressed his confidence in the importance of Iraq and its leadership role in this regard [ending US-Iran tensions]," said the readout.
Tensions between the US and Iran have risen since Washington withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, then re-imposed economic sanctions six months later. Attacks on oil tankers, the downing of a US drone, and attacks on Aramco oil facilities in Saudi Arabia have brought the region to the brink of war.
Mohammed Mohieh, spokesman of Iraq's Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah told Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) affiliated media outlet Tasnim news late Tuesday that the US’ ambassador and armed forces must be expelled from Iraq. An estimated 5,000 US troops are based in Iraq to support and train Iraqi forces.
"By striking our forces in the strategic location of Al-Qaim, the United States wants to close the corridor that starts in Iran and ends in Lebanon through Iraq and Syria. America sees this corridor as a strategic land passage to give assistance to resistance", he told the outlet.
