On early Wednesday morning, reports emerged that Iran had targeted two US military facilities in Iraq, one at Al Ain and the other at Erbil. Approximately, a dozen missiles were fired. This is in retaliation to the US drone attack that killed Major General Qassim Soleimani, the commander of the Quds force, an elite unit within the Iran Revolutionary Guards.
Here are some of the major developments so far:
1. The Iranian Supreme leader Ayotollah Khamenei called the missile attacks ‘a slap on the face’ of US.
2. Donald Trump tweeted that “all is well” and an evaluation process regarding the losses is being carried out.
Also Read:India issues travel advisory for Iraq
3. US Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, said that US seeks to de-escalate, but is ready to finish any war that gets started.
4. Crude oil prices have crossed US $70 per barrel as of Wednesday.
5. Most nations have called for peace and de-escalation of prevailing tensions. Germany, UAE, EU amongst others have called for restraint in the region.
6. Israel has supported the US.
7. There are news reports that the US has delivered a letter to Kuwait leading to speculation that US troops will withdraw from the nation.
8. The Iranian Ambassador to India, Ali Chengeni, has said that Iran will welcome any Indian initiative to de-escalate tensions between his nation and the US.
9. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has issued a travel advisory and asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to Iraq and within Iraq.
10. Air India has re routed its flights and has decided to stay away from the Iranian air space. A delay of 45 minutes and upwards can be expected in west bound flights.
11. Major global airlines have re routed their flights to avoid Iranian airlines. These include Singapore Airlines, Taiwan’s EVA and Malaysian Airlines. All US airlines have not been flying over Iran for some time now.