Politics, environment, farming and more in your new free Western Morning News newsletter - direct to your inbox every day Sign up Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The Royal Navy has said it is 'ready to react' after a US airstrike in Iraq killed the head of Iran's special forces - who is regarded as being second in power and importance only to Iran's Supreme Leader.

The airstrike at Baghdad's international airport came after an attack on a US Embassy in Baghdad that has been blamed on Iran-backed militia.

General Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), were killed in the attack. Soleimani is widely regarded as the second-most important man in Iran, after the Supreme Leader - and more powerful than Iran's President.

Gen Soleimani, 62, was the target of attack, which was conducted by an armed American drone, according to a US official. His vehicle was struck on an access road near the Baghdad airport.

The US Defence Department said it killed Soleimani because he "was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region". It also accused Soleimani of approving the attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.

US secretary of State Pompeo says US is 'committed to de-escalation', but the US State Department has told US citizens to leave Iraq 'immediately', reports AFP News agency.

Nonetheless Iraq's 'Deputy Commander of Joint Operations' has reportedly called the attack a "flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty", while Iran has has vowed "harsh retaliation".

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson told Plymouth Live that the Royal Navy had "no comment to make" on the "specific threat levels" it now faced in the region.

However, the MoD spokesperson said that "there are presently conversations taking place about how best to prepare, and how to protect our people and our assets" in the region - adding that the Royal Navy was ready to "react accordingly".

The Royal Navy continues to providing a continuous maritime security presence in the Gulf - and the Strait of Hormuz - "to reassure merchant shipping and safeguard the free flow of trade", following Iran's attacks on shipping in the region, including the seizure of a UK registered oil tanker.

(Image: LPhot Rory Arnold)

Plymouth-based Type 23 Frigate HMS Montrose, which is stationed long-term in the Gulf, remains in the region, after a crew change shortly before Christmas.

The Royal Navy said last month: "The frigate is stationed long-term in the Gulf in a bid to spare ships the arduous passage to and from the UK – allowing more time on front-line operations in the region.

"Every four months the 200 sailors and Royal Marines on board trade places with a UK-based crew; the third and final exchange of Montrose crews for the year took place just before Christmas.

"Whichever crew has been assigned to the frigate, they have been at the forefront of protecting shipping passing in and out of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz since July."

Type 45 Destroyer HMS Defender is also still in the region, as are a number of Royal Navy minesweepers that are permanently based in the region.

(Image: LPhot Rory Arnold)

Larisa Brown, defence and security editor for the Daily Mail said: "UK bases across Middle East now at heightened state of alert. Royal Navy warships operating in Gulf also on alert.

"There are some 400 UK troops in Iraq, spread across four places. All are now reviewing readiness and force protection measures."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "We have always recognised the aggressive threat posed by the Iranian Quds force led by Qasem Soleimani. Following his death, we urge all parties to de-escalate. Further conflict is in none of our interests."

Security experts have warned killing of Soleimani puts the US and allies including the UK at risk, experts have warned.

Ian Bond, foreign policy director at the Centre for European Reform, said on Twitter the airstrike was a "big escalation" by US President Donald Trump.

He added: "No doubt Soleimani was very bad actor, with much blood on his hands.

"But killing non-state terrorists eg [al-Qaida founder Osama] bin Laden or [so-called Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-] Baghdadi very different from killing senior official of internationally-recognised state.

"Big escalation by Trump, and a lawless step that increases risk to US and allies."

Dr Jack Watling, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told the PA news agency that the attack was "very significant" because it was a "declared assassination" outside a declared armed conflict.

But he said that Iran was not likely to want to provoke a war with the US.

Dr Watling added: "The significance of this strike is that it is a declared assassination of a senior officer in another state with whom the US is not in a declared armed conflict and conducted on the territory of a third party.

"That's a very significant development in and of itself.

"Ultimately Iran does not want to provoke a full-scale conflict.

(Image: AP)

"I would expect there will be attacks on US forces, but they will be conducted with care."

Dr Watling said if the UK was seen by Iran to be participating in US actions it could capture or arrest British citizens in the region.

He added: "The Iranians do not draw a direct line between the UK and US, however, if the UK is perceived to be participating in US actions then they will directly target UK interests.

"The UK is not automatically the first target. Citizens in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon would certainly potentially be at risk, dual-nationalities in Iran will certainly be at risk of arrest under espionage charges."

Iranian state television called Mr Trump's order to kill Gen Soleimani "the biggest miscalculation by the US" since the Second World War.

"The people of the region will no longer allow Americans to stay," it said.

The airport strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), and five others, including the PMF's airport protocol officer Mohammed Reda, Iraqi officials said.

Mr Trump was holidaying on his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but sent out a tweet of an American flag.

The attack comes at the start of a year in which Mr Trump faces both a Senate trial following his impeachment by the Congress and a re-election campaign.

It marks a potential turning point in the Middle East and represents a drastic change for American policy towards Iran after months of tensions.

Tehran shot down a US military surveillance drone and seized oil tankers last year.

The US also blames Iran for a series of other attacks targeting tankers, as well as a September assault on Saudi Arabia's oil industry that temporarily halved its production.

The tensions are rooted in Mr Trump's decision in May 2018 to withdraw the US from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor Barack Obama.

A senior Iraqi security official said the air strike took place near the cargo area after Gen Soleimani left his plane and joined al-Muhandis and others in a car. The official said the plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria.

PMF officials said the bodies of Gen Soleimani and al-Muhandis were torn to pieces.

It is unclear what legal authority the US relied on to carry out the attack.

American presidents claim broad authority to act without the approval of the Congress when US personnel or interests are facing an imminent threat.

The Pentagon did not provide evidence to back up its assertion that Gen Soleimani was planning new attacks against Americans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the "highest priority" was to protect American lives and interests, but that "we cannot put the lives of American service members, diplomats and others further at risk by engaging in provocative and disproportionate actions".

"Tonight's airstrike risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence. America - and the world - cannot afford to have tensions escalate to the point of no return," she said in a statement.

She said Congress was not consulted on the strike and demanded it be "immediately" briefed on the situation and the next steps.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Mr Trump had "tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox", and like other Democratic White House hopefuls criticised the president's order, saying it could leave the US "on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East".

But Trump allies were quick to praise the action.

"To the Iranian government: if you want more, you will get more," tweeted South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

The killing promised to strain relations with Iraq's government, which is closely allied with both Washington and Tehran.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi condemned the strike as an "aggression against Iraq" and a "blatant attack on the nation's dignity".

He also called for an emergency session of parliament to take "necessary and appropriate measures to protect Iraq's dignity, security and sovereignty".

Royal Navy Marines could be replaced by Army unit, new reports claim

The Syrian government, which has received key support from Iran throughout the civil war, also condemned the strike, saying it could lead to a "dangerous escalation" in the region.

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, released a statement mourning those killed in the US strike, saying their blood was not wasted.

Gen Soleimani had been rumoured dead several times, including in a 2006 plane crash that killed other military officials in north-western Iran and following a 2012 bombing in Damascus that killed top aides of Assad.

Rumours circulated in November 2015 that Gen Soleimani was killed or seriously wounded leading forces loyal to Assad as they fought around Syria's Aleppo.

Gen Soleimani's killing follows the New Year's Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the US embassy in Baghdad.

The two-day embassy attack, which ended on Wednesday, prompted Mr Trump to order about 750 US troops deployed to the Middle East.

No-one was killed or wounded in the attack, which appeared to be mainly a show of force.

It prompted US secretary of state Mike Pompeo to postpone his trip to Ukraine and four other countries "to continue monitoring the ongoing situation in Iraq and ensure the safety and security of Americans in the Middle East", the State Department said.

The breach at the embassy followed US air strikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia operating in Iraq and Syria.

The US military said the strikes were in retaliation for last week's killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the US blamed on the militia.

US officials have suggested they were prepared to engage in further retaliatory attacks in Iraq.

"The game has changed," defence secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday, telling reporters that violent acts by Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq will be met with US military force.