“After the initial shock of the Iranian lightning strikes, some Western media tried to minimize the magnitude of Iran’s action,” the expert told the Tehran Times on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.
Such media outlets in fact followed Donald Trump’s initial comment on the strikes, saying in a tweet “All is well!”, the source noted.
Trump tweeted, “All is well! 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! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.”
Trump’s remarks have come under fire from some U.S. political figures so far. Wendy Sherman, lead negotiator on the Iran nuclear deal, also analyzed the latest rhetoric of Donald Trump and Iran, denouncing his big-headed comment, saying “All is not well”.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “All is not well” with Iran, despite President Trump’s tweet.
CNN quoted a U.S. official as saying that there were no initial reports of any U.S. casualties, but an assessment of the impact of the strikes is underway.
“A preliminary report from an Iraqi security source indicated there were Iraqi casualties, but Iraqi security officials later told CNN there were no casualties among Iraqi security forces,” CNN reported.
The attack comes days after the U.S. killed top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in an airstrike in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
In a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, an elite wing of the Iranian military that is also known as the IRGC, said the attacks were “hard revenge” for the death of General Soleimani. The IRGC said in the statement that any country housing U.S. troops could be subject to “hostile and aggressive acts” and called on American citizens to demand the government remove U.S. troops from the region.
Several Western media reported that the Iranian missiles struck areas of the al-Asad base which were not populated by Americans.
However, Iran state television said over 80 U.S. forces are reportedly been killed during the missile strikes, citing a source close to the IRGC.
Trump visited the base in December 2018 to visit troops after Christmas. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also visited the base in November 2019.
