Jacob Ogles
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says Iran directed a New Year’s Eve attack on a U.S. embassy in Iraq, echoing the official U.S. position.
“Iran is directly responsible for orchestrating the storming of the US Embassy in Iraq and must be held accountable for it and the safety of every American serving there,” Rubio tweeted.
Dozens of Iraqi Shiite militiamen and their supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday, smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, angered over deadly U.S. airstrikes targeting the Iran-backed militia. U.S. guards fired tear gas and palls of smoke rose over the grounds, the Associated Press reported.
There were no reports of casualties, but the unprecedented breach was one of the worst attacks on the embassy in recent memory, according to the AP. It followed deadly U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the airstrikes were in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that it had blamed on the militia.
President Donald Trump confirmed on Twitter that the strikes on five militia came in response to the death of an American contractor in a rocket barrage in Kirkuk.
“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will,” Trump tweeted. “Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday traveled to Mar-A-Lago to discuss the strikes, Fox News reports. Trump and his family have been in his Florida estate for the holidays.
Rubio continued through the morning to stress on social media there’s intelligence pointing to Iraq as the force behind demonstrations in Baghdad.
“It’s beyond dispute that these Shia militias in Iraq aren’t just ‘backed’ by Iran,” he wrote. “They are directed and controlled by them. Any attacks by them are the direct work of Iran’s IRGC.”
He referred to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the armed forces led by the Ayatollah.
“The government of Iraq [which has enjoyed billions of dollars in US aid & the help & protection of our military] needs to remember they have an obligation to protect all diplomatic facilities,” Rubio wrote.
The Florida Senator, a Republican, shared video of guards still protecting the embassy amid attacks.
“Pray for these brave young Americans who remain at their post at the Embassy in Baghdad while an Iranian directed mob attacks the embassy,” Rubio wrote.
“The U.S. should employ whatever it takes to secure their safety and the safety of all Americans inside the compound.”
He also inferred Iran would employ deception to make it look as if the U.S. was using deadly force in response whether that occurs or not.
“Iran’s IRCG is not above carrying out false flag sniper fire against its own militia surrogates or even bystanders in order to have the U.S. blamed,” Rubio tweeted.
And he defended the U.S. decision to strike militias.
“Argument from Iraq government and& some in U.S.) that we brought embassy attack on ourselves by striking Iran’s proxies is garbage,” he wrote.
“They’ve been firing at us for weeks and killed an American. We should just let them continue without responding in only language these people understand?”
