By Rachel Bowman and Germania Rodriguez Poleo, Chief U.S. Reporter For Dailymail.Com and Wires
Rockets were fired at America’s Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq, security sources confirmed on Monday.
The base in the west of the country was targeted by two Soviet-made Katyusha rockets amid soaring tensions in the Middle East – with Iran threatening to strike Israel as early as tonight.
It was not clear if the attack caused any casualties or damage inside the base, the sources said. Iranian proxy terror groups operating in Iraq and Syria frequently attack US troops at times of heightened tension.
The Islamic Republic could attack Israel in the next 24 to 48 hours following a major attack by Hezbollah that left two IDF soldiers injured, top western diplomats have warned.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the G7 yesterday that an attack in response to Israel’s killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr in Beirut was imminent, Axios reported.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III reportedly spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Sunday to assure the Jewish state of U.S. support.
It would mark the second time during the growing crisis in the Middle East that Iran has directly attacked Israel, the first being in April when it sent a salvo of missiles and drones overnight.
Iran has clearly signaled that it intends to attack its foe, claiming it has the ‘legal right’ to respond to Haniyeh’s assassination. Foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani told a news conference: ‘No one has the right to doubt Iran’s legal right to punish the Zionist regime.’