Trump warns Iran against "sneak attack" as regional tensions reignite

Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-02 10:24:09|Editor: huaxia

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iran against a "sneak attack" on U.S. forces and assets in Iraq, threatening a "very heavy price" as a consequence.

"Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!" Trump said in a tweet, without providing detailed information.

Trump sent the tweet immediately after his intelligence briefing on Wednesday, according to his daily public schedule issued by the White House press office.

Iran or Iran-backed forces are plotting attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, U.S. media reported, citing U.S. intelligence.

"We've been seeing something brewing and developing pretty seriously," a U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

Trump's warning came days after a New York Times story revealing that the Pentagon had ordered military commanders to plan for an escalated military campaign against Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq.

The U.S. military and Iran-backed militia fell into direct conflict last month. On March 11, a rocket attack on Camp Taji killed two U.S. soldiers and one British service member, and wounded 14 others. The U.S. military on the following day retaliated and destroyed facilities of Kata'ib Hezbollah's (KH), a Shia militia group.

The Camp Taji was under a similar rocket attack on March 14, and three U.S. service members were injured.

The U.S. government last week designated 20 individuals and companies based in Iran and Iraq, accusing them of supporting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force and other Iranian-backed militias.

Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie previously said that the threat to the United States in the Middle East remains very high and that the tensions have not gone down.

The United States has enhanced its defense posture in the region. Two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups currently were cruising in the area, namely the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Harry S. Truman.

Washington said that the KH was responsible for numerous attacks against the United States and the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, including a rocket attack on an Iraqi base near Kirkuk (the K1 base) in late December 2019 that had killed a U.S. civilian contractor and injured four U.S. service members.

The tit-for-tat between the U.S. military and the Shia militia group might lock them into a cycle of attacks and reprisals.

The rocket attack on the K1 base led to the U.S. airstrike against senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and the subsequent Iranian missile strike retaliation.

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