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January 9, 2020

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China calls for restraint as Iran retaliates

Source: Agencies | 00:05 UTC+8 January 9, 2020 | Print Edition

CHINA yesterday urged restraint from all sides after Iran launched missiles at Iraqi bases housing US and British troops, saying Beijing would play a “responsible role” in helping to defuse tensions.

Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles overnight at Iraqi bases housing coalition forces, the first act of the Islamic republic’s promised revenge for the US killing of top general Qassem Soleimani last week.

“It is not in the interest of any party that the situation in the Middle East worsens further,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing. “We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint,” he said.

Geng said China would “play a responsible role in promoting a de-escalation of the situation as soon as possible.”

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a key partner of Iran and a major buyer of the country’s oil.

“China has always advocated that all parties concerned should properly resolve their conflicts and differences through dialogue, negotiation and other peaceful means,” Geng said.

Iran’s embassy in Beijing posted an announcement on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform that “the end of America’s evil influence in West Asia has begun.”

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made clear that the missile strikes were in revenge for the US killing of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, whose death last week in an American drone strike in Baghdad prompted angry calls for vengeance and drew massive crowds of Iranians, said to number in the millions, to the streets to mourn him.

Khamenei himself wept at the funeral in a sign of his bond with the commander.

“Last night they received a slap,” Khamenei said in a speech after the missile strikes. “These military actions are not sufficient (for revenge). What is important is that the corrupt presence of America in this region comes to an end.”

Despite the heightened rhetoric, there were some indications that there might not be more immediate retaliation by either side.

“All is well!” US President Donald Trump tweeted shortly after the missile attacks, adding, “So far, so good” regarding the assessment of casualties and damage.

Moments earlier, Iran’s foreign minister tweeted that Tehran had taken and “concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” adding that Tehran did “not seek escalation” but would defend itself against further aggression.

It appeared Iran gave advance warning of the strikes. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said he received notification from Iran just after midnight that its retaliation “was starting or would start soon” and would focus only on American positions. Finland and Lithuania’s militaries, which had personnel at one of the targeted bases, said they received information about an imminent attack and had time to move to shelters or leave the base.

Iran’s attacks “appeared designed for maximum domestic effect with minimum escalatory risk,” said Henry Rome, analyst with Eurasia Group. “For a president who wants to avoid a war in the Middle East during an election year, the Iranians have provided an off-ramp he will likely take,” Rome said.

Tensions have risen steadily in the Middle East since Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

The Iranian strikes on the bases marked the first time in recent years that Iran has directly attacked US positions rather than through proxies in the region. It raised the chances of open conflict erupting between the two rivals, who have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.

The US has been deploying more troops in the region. US Gulf allies that host thousands of American troops are concerned of an outbreak of direct conflict and retaliation from Iran. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have called for de-escalation.

“The situation is not currently a war situation,” UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei told reporters yesterday, stressing that Iran is a neighbor and the last thing the country wants is more tension in the region.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the US and its allies against retaliating over the missile attack.

“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” the Guard said in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. It also threatened Israel.

The Iranians fired a total of 15 missiles yesterday, two US officials said. Ten hit the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s western Anbar province and one targeted a base in Irbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Four failed, said the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about a military operation.

“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend US personnel, partners and allies in the region,” Jonathan Hoffman, an assistant to the US defense secretary, said.

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