Iran indicates that attacks on U.S. bases may continue'

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Air Force (GRI) commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh resumed his country's threats to the United States by declaring on Thursday, 9, that the attack two days ago against U.S. bases in Iraq was only the first in a series of actions. Hajizadeh presented details of Tehran's retaliation against the United States over the death of General Qasem Soleimani when he fired the new threats.

Quoted by state news agency Mehr,Hajizadeh said the missile attacks on "one of the most important American bases were the start of a larger operation that will continue throughout the region." The general concluded that Tehran's goal in carrying out the operation was not to kill, but to "hit the enemy's war machine."

Iranian media claim that about 80 people were killed and dozens injured at Asad air base, but both the United States and the Iraqi government deny there had been casualties. Detailing the retaliatory plan, Hajizadeh said the country was prepared to fire hundreds of missiles if the United States resolved to fight back, which did not happen.

In the days following Soleimani's death, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Tehran that if there was retaliation for the general's assassination, Washington would launch a rejoinder on 52 Iranian targets (including archaeological and cultural sites considered world heritage sites). But Trump's response after the attack summed up the announcement of new sanctions and that the United States would be prepared to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

The United States accused Soleimani of planning attacks through Shiite groups against U.S. diplomatic and military forces in the region, such as the attack on Baghdad's international airport, which killed an American civilian, and the invasion of the embassy in the area iraqi capital in December 2019.

Tension between Tehran and Washington escalated again in 2018, when Trump decided to unilaterally exit the nuclear deal between the two countries and five other atomic powers in 2015. Since then, the United States has resumed pre-agreement economic sanctions and established new economic restrictions on the country.

Recently, three episodes nearly led the two countries to direct conflict —the death of Soleimani and the Iranian revide the most exposed to the war. Earlier, there was the oil tanker crisis in the Persian Gulf, with the downing of an American drone by the Revolutionary Guard in June, and the attack on refineries of Saudi state-owned Aramco by Shiite Houthis rebels in September 2019.