Russians Impressed after Iran’s Missile Attack on US Base in Iraq: General

In comments at a military gathering on Friday, Brigadier General Hossein Nejat said the US hid the reality of what had happened in the Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq after it was targeted with a barrage of IRGC missiles in January 2020 in retaliation for the assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani.

“Everybody realized the US’ fear of Iran,” deputy commander of the IRGC’s Sarallah base in Tehran noted, adding that the Russians acknowledged that Iran has changed the world equations by attacking an American military base, because nobody has been able to destroy the US military sites.

Highlighting Iran’s success to develop missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers and pinpoint accuracy, General Nejat said the Islamic Republic’s “spiritual support” for the courageous combatants in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces) has helped those countries stand against the US and other bullies.

On January 3 last year, former US president Donald Trump directly ordered drone strikes that killed Lieutenant General Soleimani – who was in Baghdad on an official visit – and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Hashd al-Shaabi anti-terror force.

Five days later, Iran retaliated by firing dozens of missiles at Ain al-Assad air base in al-Anbar Governorate, western Iraq, as well as another US air base in Erbil, declaring that the attacks were part of its promised “tough revenge” for the assassination.

According to Pentagon, over 100 American soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the missile strike against Ain al-Assad.

“I can’t think that anyone has walked away from this without some sort of effects, psychologically or emotionally, because of how traumatic the event was,” said Lt. Col. Johnathan Jordan, the operations officer for an Air Force unit present that night.