This archive report was first published on 5 January 2020.
US President Donald Trump has escalated tensions with Iran, warning that the US is targeting 52 sites in the country and will hit them 'very fast and very hard' if Iran attacks American personnel or assets.
Trump made the statement on January 4, 2020, in a tweet defending the US drone strike assassination of a powerful Iranian general in Iraq, Qasem Soleimani, on January 3, 2020.
According to Trump, the 52 sites represent the number of Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late 1979.
Trump's statement comes as Iran has promised revenge for the killing of Soleimani, described as the second most-powerful man in Iran.
On January 4, 2020, pro-Iran factions in Iraq ramped up pressure on US installations across Iraq with missiles and warnings to Iraqi troops.
Two mortar rounds hit an area near the US embassy in Baghdad on January 4, 2020, and two rockets slammed into the Al-Balad airbase where American troops are deployed, security sources said.
The Iraqi military confirmed the missile attacks in Baghdad and on al-Balad and said there were no casualties. The US military also said no coalition troops were hurt.
