Tehran can say it has retaliated over Suleimani, while US may shrug off limited strike

Iran unleashed its “severe revenge” for the death of Qassem Suleimani, with short-range ballistic missile attacks on the largest US base in Iraq and another military site hosting American troops in Erbil on Wednesday morning.

The attacks could provide an excuse for hawks inside the Donald Trump administration to kick off a full-blown war with Iran – but more likely, a pathway out of the crisis.

The Iranian strikes were heavy on symbolism. The missiles were launched around 1.30am in Iraq, roughly the same time as the drone strike that killed Suleimani outside Baghdad’s airport on Friday morning. The first projectiles struck their targets shortly after the Iranian general’s coffin was lowered into the ground in the city of Kerman. The Revolutionary Guards called the operation “Martyr Suleimani”. They distributed videos of the missiles being launched to be broadcast across Iranian media.

Iran attacks two US airbases in Iraq in wake of Suleimani killing Read more

Despite this theatricality, the attacks appear to have been carefully designed to avoid US casualties: fired at bases that were already on high alert and so far registering no confirmed deaths. Adel Abdul-Mahdi, the Iraqi prime minister, said he was forewarned of the attacks as they were imminent, and passed the alert to troops stationed at the base.

Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said the strikes were characterised as self-defence and within the boundaries of international law, not the first shots in a war. He added the attacks had now concluded. Even the hardline Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that they considered this round of overt hostilities to be over if the US declined to respond.

This presents an opportunity for Trump that that US president appears to have recognised. Far from the over-the-top warnings he issued in recent days, he used his first comments after the unprecedented attack to play it down.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) All is well! 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! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

He tweeted: “All is well! 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! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.”

If Trump’s assessment of no casualties holds, Wednesday’s strikes may be a chance for both sides to de-escalate the crisis without losing face at home. Iran will be able to claim it took violent revenge for Suleimani’s death and claim, falsely, that it killed dozens of US personnel, leaving it free to return to the kind of fighting it prefers: campaigns of proxy and covert warfare that present less existential risk against a vastly more powerful adversary. Iran can also press its case with the Iraqis to expel American forces from Iraq, a goal that was dear to Suleimani’s heart and Iran’s highest regional priority.

The US, too, can step back, shrugging off Iran’s retaliation as insignificant – with Trump potentially able to extract political points at home for killing a key American adversary without suffering significant consequences.

That is the best-case scenario, but it rests on two risky premises: that more than a dozen missiles struck bases hosting US military personnel without substantial damage or casualties, and that Trump’s White House will resist any urge to fire back.