The missile attack on two US bases in Iraq was “only the beginning of a major operation,” warned the commander of the Air Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Amir Ali Hajizadé, who has thus suggested that there could be further attacks very soon.
Tehran launched the bombing in retaliation for the death of General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard who died in an American attack last week. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, already warned on Wednesday that it was “just a slap”.
“The missile attacks against some of the most important bases … are the beginning of a major operation that will continue throughout the region,” said Hajizadé, who also clarified that the goal is not to cause personal injury but to attack “the enemy’s military machinery,” according to the Tasnim agency.
He said that Iran “did not seek to kill anyone” with its attack on Iraqi bases, although there were certainly victims, despite the version offered by the United States and its president, Donald Trump, that the attack was limited to only “minor damage” in the two military complexes.
According to Hajizadé, thirteen missiles were launched in the bombing, but “several hundred” had been prepared. The Iranian General has also said that the plan contemplated the possible death of 500 people had the United States decided to fight back and that, “in the second and third phase”, the number of victims “would have reached between 4,000 and 5,000”.
