US prepares for potential Iranian escalation and Iraq expulsion

The Donald Trump administration is bracing for potential Iranian attacks throughout the Middle East after a Pentagon strike killed the paramilitary leader Qasem Soleimani Jan. 3.
U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) 19.2, reinforce the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, January 3, 2020. U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt. Kyle C. Talbot/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2H8E91F118
US Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) 19.2, reinforce the US embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 3, 2020. - US Marine Corps/Sgt. Kyle C. Talbot/Handout via REUTERS
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Jack Detsch
@JackDetsch_ALM

The Donald Trump administration and American partners are bracing for potential Iranian attacks throughout the Middle East after a Pentagon strike killed paramilitary leader Qasem Soleimani on Friday.

Former US officials said the death of Soleimani, who was considered a national hero in Iran after rising from division command during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s to commanding Iran’s military and paramilitary groups around Iraq, Syria and Yemen, could compel a range of covert or overt responses.

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