As Iran mourns Soleimani, fear of new military conflict spreads globally

(Patria) – US President Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to "violently" strike 52 Iranian targets if Iran attacks Americans or American property in retaliation for the drone assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.

Trump announced this on Twitter as tens of thousands marched through Iraq and Iran mourning the general, who was considered the second most influential figure in Iran, and fear of a new military conflict in the Middle East spread globally.

Trump wrote that "Iran is openly talking about targeted attacks on specific US targets" in retaliation for Soleimani's killing, and that the US "will target 52 Iranian targets" some of which are "of great significance to Iran and Iranian culture, and those targets, as well as Iran itself, will be hit very fast and very hard.".

He also wrote that "the United States does not want to be threatened anymore" and that the 52 targets represent the 52 American citizens held hostage in Iran for 444 days after the US embassy in Tehran was seized in November 1979.

At the same time, thousands of mourners, including members of paramilitary groups for whom Soleimani and Mohandis were heroes, marched through Iraq carrying photos of their heroes.

On Saturday evening, a rocket was fired and fell in the middle of the Green Zone, in the immediate vicinity of the US embassy in Baghdad. Another rocket hit the nearby Jadriya neighborhood, and two more were fired at Balad air base north of the city. There were no casualties, and no one has claimed responsibility so far.

A local news agency quoted General Gholamali Abuhamzeh as saying that "Iran will punish Americans wherever they are within the reach of the Islamic Republic," referring to the Gulf itself, i.e., the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes and which is vital to the US military.

Just hours before Trump's Twitter announcement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said via the same platform that "the US remains committed to de-escalating tensions," and that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about Iran, during which "the importance of countering Iran's malign influence and threats to the region was emphasized.".

The White House sent a formal notification to Congress on Saturday about the drone strike amid complaints from Democrats that Trump had not informed lawmakers or sought approval in advance for the strike. White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien defended the legality of the operation, saying that Justice Department lawyers had signed off on the plan.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented that the content of the notification (about the strike) raises "serious and urgent questions about the timing, manner, and justification" for the attack.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi parliament is holding an emergency session where a decision could be made on the expulsion of US troops from Iraq, Reuters reports. Many Iraqis, including Soleimani's opponents, expressed anger over the double assassination on their territory, which could drag their country into a new conflict.

The US strike followed a sharp increase in tensions between Iran and the US last week when pro-Iranian paramilitary groups attacked the US embassy in Baghdad after a US airstrike on Kataib Hezbollah, founded by Muhandis. The US also accused this group of attacking an Iraqi military base during which a US contractor was killed, Reuters reports.