Published 11:30 IST, January 1st 2020
'Iran will pay a "BIG PRICE" price' threatens Trump, after attack on US Embassy in Iraq
US President Donald Trump threatened Iran that they will be held responsible for the attack on the American Embassy in Baghdad and will pay a “big price”.
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US President Donald Trump reportedly threatened Iran where it stated it will be held responsible for the attack on the American Embassy in Baghdad and will pay a “big price”. Trump took to Twitter to explicitly mention that it was not a warning but a “threat”.
The US President also thanked Iraqi President and Prime Minister for their rapid response and said that the Embassy in Baghdad has now been safe for hours. He said that the “great warfighters” rushed to the site with most “ lethal military equipment in the world”.
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Earlier, Trump had blamed Iran for “orchestrating” an attack on the Embassy after some protestors managed to enter the high-security compound on December 31. Referring to the attack that killed an American contractor and injured many, Trump said that the US retaliated to it and “always will”. Trump had notified the Iraqi government to use its forces for providing security to the US Embassy.
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Death of US contractor
On December 28, a US defence contractor was killed and others got injured after as many as 30 rockets were reportedly fired at the Iraqi military compound near Kirkuk. In response, the United States launched airstrikes against the pro-Iran group killing 25 fighters. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi said that the US carried out attacks to show its “firm support for terrorism and its neglect for the independence and sovereignty of countries”.
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The retaliation was followed by thousands of Iraqi Shiite militia supporters attacking US Embassy compound in Baghdad to protest against airstrikes that killed 25 pro-Iran fighters. According to media reports, some of the protesters marched through the high-security checkpoints in military fatigues to which Iraqi forces didn’t react.
The mob broke into the Embassy compound shouting “Death to America” and one of them hanged a poster on the wall that read, “America is an aggressor”. US security forces stood at the roof pointing guns at the protestors while some marines fired tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the aggressive crowd.
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11:30 IST, January 1st 2020