Donald Trump accuses Iran of having "orchestrated" the attack on the American embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. On Tuesday, he even threatened on Twitter to make Tehran pay the "high price". "Iran will be held fully responsible for the lives lost or damage caused to our facilities. "Warned the President of the United States. "This is not a warning, it is a threat," he added.
.... Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019Iranian diplomacy, for its part, denounced "the surprising audacity of American officials" who "attribute to the Islamic Republic of Iran the demonstrations of the Iraqi people against their cruel acts". The already intense tension between Washington and Tehran has thus increased a notch, reinforcing fears of an escalation which degenerates into direct military confrontation between the two enemy countries. For the moment, it is Iraq, as if caught between its two bulky allies, which is the scene of their showdowns.
Thousands of pro-Iranian Iraqi paramilitary supporters forced entry into the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, prompting U.S. forces to fire tear gas canisters to disperse them.
Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019The angry crowd protested the US air strikes that killed 25 fighters from Hezbollah's brigades, an Iraqi Shiite armed group that is a member of Hachd al-Chaabi, a pro-Iran faction-dominated paramilitary coalition integrated into the regular forces, on Sunday.
Thousands of Hashd fighters and supporters, who participated in the funeral procession of the killed fighters, passed through the checkpoints of the ultra-secure Baghdad Green Zone, where the Iraqi embassy and institutions are located. The security forces had opened the doors.
Prime Minister of Iraq condemns attack
They then organized a sit-in outside the embassy before crossing the first enclosure of the gigantic American complex, despite attempts by Iraqi forces to prevent them. US forces first briefly fired live ammunition before using tear gas and stun grenades from inside the chancery. The Hachd reported 20 wounded. The demonstrators were still in the middle of the day inside the Embassy compound.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi has called on them to withdraw. "The Iraqi forces will rigorously prohibit any attack on diplomatic representation," he warned.
500 American soldiers sent to Kuwait
Since then, the United States has indicated that it does not intend to evacuate its embassy in Baghdad. "The American personnel are safe and there have been no breaches. There are no plans to evacuate the embassy in Baghdad, "said a spokesperson for the US State Department in a press statement, adding that the US ambassador Matt Tueller , absent for a "personal trip", was returning to the diplomatic mission in the Iraqi capital.
However, the Pentagon sent reinforcements to the Marines, who quickly arrived by helicopter within the confines of the gigantic embassy complex. In addition, 500 additional soldiers have joined Kuwait, a neighbor of Iraq, said an American official on Wednesday, "very probably" and then sent them there. Ultimately, "up to 4,000 soldiers could be deployed in the region," the official said, on condition of anonymity.
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