BAGHDAD—Iran attacked U.S. forces at two bases in Iraq — including one housing Canadian personnel — with a barrage of missiles early Wednesday, Iranian official news media and U.S. officials said, the start of what Tehran had promised would be retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian commander.

“The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement on a Telegram messaging appchannel.

U.S. officials in Washington said Iran had fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at the bases at al-Assad, in western Iraq and Irbil, in northern Iraq. The Pentagon said it was assessing whether any American troops had been killed or injured in the strikes. There were no immediate reports of American casualties.

Canadian special operations forces troops have been based in the Irbil area on an advise-and-assist mission to train local security forces.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that the government was "deeply concerned with the missile attacks launched by Iran.

"The safety of the women and men who serve is our top priority, and we are taking all necessary precautions for the security of our civilian, military, and diplomatic personnel. We continue to strongly urge de-escalation across the region," Trudeau said in a statement.

The prime minister said that members of the opposition were being briefed on the situation.

The attack prompted the government to convene the Incident Response Group, bringing together the ministers of defence and foreign affairs, the chief of defence staff, the national security and intelligence advisor, the clerk of the privy council and senior bureaucrats.

Military sources told the Star’s Bruce Campion-Smith that Canadian personnel were in the area of the Iranian attack on the base in Irbil.

Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, confirmed late Tuesday that all Canadians were safe. “I can assure you that all deployed CAF personnel are safe & accounted for following missile attacks in Iraq. We remain vigilant,” he said on Twitter.

This still image from an Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting video shot on January 8, 2020, allegedly shows rockets launched from Iran against the U.S. military base in Ein-al Asad in Iraq. HO/IRIB/AFP via Getty Images

The attack came just hours after Vance announced that Canada would be moving some military personnel out of Iraq to Kuwait for their safety amidst concerns that Iran would strike.

Vance was at defence headquarters in downtown Ottawa Tuesday night as reports came in from Iraq. With him were senior military leaders and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

After the strikes, President Donald Trump, who has vowed a strong response to any Iranian attack on U.S. targets, met at the White House with his top national security advisers to discuss retaliatory options.

On Twitter, Trump struck an upbeat tone and promised to make a statement Wednesday morning.

“All is well!” he wrote. “Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!”

In a tweet shortly after the missile launches, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif called the strikes “proportionate measures in self-defence.” He said Iran was not seeking to escalate the situation but would defend itself against any aggression.

The American killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a hero at home but a terrorist to the U.S. government, has scaled into one of the most dangerous confrontations between the countries in the four decades of animosity that have followed the Islamic Revolution.

Iran’s firing of ballistic missiles from inside its borders — not relying on rockets from Iranian-backed proxies — at two of the main military bases where many of the more than 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are based was a significant escalation of force that threatened to ignite a widening conflict throughout the Middle East.

It was also a stark message from Tehran that it has the will and the ability to strike at U.S. targets in neighbouring Iraq.

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“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al Asad and Irbil,” Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement.

Shortly after the attacks, the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington banned U.S. airlines from flying over Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

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Iranian news media reported the attack hours after the remains of Soleimani were returned to his hometown in Iran for burial amid a huge outpouring of grief and rage at the United States. The funeral procession was so huge and unwieldy that more than 50 people died in a stampede, state news media reported, forcing a delay in the burial.

Iranian officials said the attacks on U.S. bases began at 1:20 a.m. — the time Soleimani was killed Friday by an American drone at the Baghdad International Airport.

The funeral procession for Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 6 2019. Arash Khamooshi / The New York Times

Some Iranian officials tweeted images of Iranian flags in a pointed rejoinder to Trump, who tweeted an American flag after Soleimani was killed.

Iran’s military planners had anticipated retaliatory strikes by the United States. Key military, oil and energy sites were placed on high alert, and underground missile defence systems were prepared to counterattack, said a person familiar with the planning.

Two people close to the Revolutionary Guards said that if the United States did not strike, Iran would de-escalate as well, and end its missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq. But if the United States does attack, then Iran was preparing for at least a limited conflict.

Reports from U.S. intelligence agencies of an imminent attack from Iran had intensified throughout the day, and senior officials said they were bracing for some kind of attack against U.S. bases in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.

U.S. military and intelligence officials had closely monitored over the past two days movements of Iran’s ballistic force units — the crown jewel of the country’s arsenal. It was initially unclear whether the movements were a defensive dispersal or the preparations for a retaliatory attack. But by midday Tuesday, top U.S. officials said it had become clear that some kind of Iranian attack was coming.

As tensions mounted, the president’s top national security advisers began gathering in the White House Situation Room about 2 p.m. — about 3 1/2 hours before the attacks. Trump joined them after a previously scheduled meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Unlike after the U.S. drone strike that killed Soleimani last week, Democratic congressional leaders were notified immediately after the strikes.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was meeting Tuesday evening with senior Democrats about Trump’s impeachment trial when she was handed a note telling her of the Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Iraq.

“We must ensure the safety of our servicemembers, including ending needless provocations from the administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence,” Pelosi tweeted. “America & world cannot afford war.”

Reactions to the strikes diverged sharply on Capitol Hill, with Democrats condemning the series of events that led to the escalation, and Republicans urging Trump to project military strength in the face of the attacks.

With files from Bruce Campion-Smith