EXCLUSIVE: Long-range missiles from Iran splashed down close to a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean Saturday and 100 miles from the Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, Fox News has learned, in the latest example of rising tensions in the region.

U.S. officials say at least one of the missiles landed 20 miles from the commercial vessel but refused to offer more specifics about the ship, citing privacy concerns. The officials requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

Iran tests missiles frequently. Senior U.S. military officials say 100 miles was a long way from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Another source says these missiles did not cause alarm, and this was a fairly standard routine exercise.

Twenty miles near a commercial vessel is more concerning, but not seen as a threat by the U.S. military, another source said.

At least two Iranian ballistic missiles exploded on impact when they hit the ocean, sending shards of debris in all directions.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) steams ahead while participating in Malabar 2020 in the North Arabian Sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Keenan Daniels)

“We were expecting the missile launch,” one official said, but there was some concern just how close Iran was willing to push the envelope.

In May of last year, the Iranian Navy said more than a dozen people died during training when it hit one of its own warships with a missile, Forbes reported.

While 100 miles is well over the horizon and not visible from the aircraft carrier or its escort ships, American spy satellites orbiting high above in space tracked the missile launch from the Islamic Republic. It’s not immediately clear if the AN/SPY-1 radar aboard the guided-missile cruiser escorting the aircraft carrier Nimitz tracked the launch.

Nimitz has remained in the northern Arabian Sea on the orders of President Trump through the inauguration. Earlier this month, the Pentagon reversed course and ordered the Nimitz not to return home, but instead to turn around and remain in the region. The aircraft carrier put to sea in early April from Washington state after the crew quarantined onboard pierside for two weeks.

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This new calendar year began with a BOOM heard round the world.  President Trump pulled the trigger on the bloodiest terrorist this side of al Baghdadi, the Iranian leader Soleimani, blowing him and his convoy to bits at the Baghdad International Airport.   He was the “brains,” the organizer and commander of Iranian militias instigating mayhem in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza.  What was he doing there?

This comes hot on the heels of the “demonstrations” at the American Embassy inside the Green Zone.  Iraqi guards were supposed to be protecting against incursions into the Green Zone but went missing amid the onslaught that we all witnessed outside the walls of the American compound.  Though it hasn’t been reported explicitly, the angry “demonstrations” that took place on January 1^st were likely the brain-child of Soleimani.  Apparently, he’d come to Iraq to take control of further actions against the American contingent in Baghdad, and probably had designs on using Iranian leverage to insist that the Iraqi government demand the immediate removal of all American assets.  Kicking the American military out of Iraq was already part of the narrative, and the attempted attack against the embassy was part of that plan.

It is being reported that both previous American presidents, Bush and Obama, had the intelligence and the logistical opportunities to take out Soleimani in years past, but chose not to risk whatever reaction might occur in Iran.  President Obama tried to make friends with Iran with the now-defunct “nuclear deal,” and then by sending them a billion dollars in untraceable currency.  We’d hate to know how that money was spent.  It not only propped up the theocratic Islamic regime but was no doubt used to further the efforts of Iranian militias and terrorists wreaking havoc all over the region.

President Trump was asked a couple of days ago whether he was afraid of kindling a war with Iran.  He replied that it would be a stupid move on Iran’s part, and declared that such a war, “wouldn’t last long.”

As everybody knows, Iran has vowed retaliation.  Harsh REVENGE, says the Ayatollah Khameini.   There will be massive rallies calling for death to Israel, and death to America.  But what’s new?  They’ve been spewing the most heinous of threats for thirty-some years!  It is obvious that President Trump believes that we now have all of our military assets staged.  The cover of our third quarter 2019 edition of 21^st Century WATCH featured a convoy of American warships en-route to the Persian Gulf and environs.  You’ve probably seen that squadrons of airplanes have been delivered to American bases in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel cut short his visit to Greece and returned to Israel upon the news of Soleimani’s death.  He expressed support and appreciation for the action that took out Soleimani and his entourage.  The Jerusalem Post describes the men killed as “irreplaceable.”  It describes Muhandis, the Iranian proxy leader in Iraq who came to the airport to greet Soleimani upon his arrival, as even “far more irreplaceable,” in that he was the prime example of Iran’s dependable proxy in a neighboring country.  The J Post talks of retaliatory moves that Iran could take, all of which have no doubt been considered by the Pentagon and the President.  They could mine the Persian Gulf.  They could once again attack Saudi Arabian assets with rockets.  They could launch rockets and missiles at Israel, or at American bases.  Or maybe they’ll just go quiet for the time being.  This is the first time since Ronald Reagan that Iran has had its nose bloodied.  When Reagan sank a third of the Iranian navy, the Mullah’s got real quiet for a period of several years.  So that’s also a possibility.

Some irony in the equation is the fact that Muhandis and his paramilitary force in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Unit actually fought alongside American forces in the recent effort to drive ISIS (Sunni Arabs) out of Iraq.  But, as we mentioned, Muhandis was Iran’s proxy in Iraq.  The mullahs want the U. S. out of Iraq so it can be in full operational control.  With ISIS gone, Iran and its proxies intended to drive American military assets out of Iraq in order to exert complete control.

To go back over all the provocations and responses that led us to this point would be futile because there’s no end to them.  But the most recent were a dozen rocket attacks against U. S. bases killing hundreds of Iraqis, wounding thousands, with some American casualties that we’ve been hearing about.  These guys, Soleimani and Muhandis were undoubtedly the architects of the recent incidents.  Indications are that Soleimani had come to Iraq to coordinate further moves against American forces within the “Green Zone.”  Iran wants the U. S. out of Iraq so they can rule it as a proxy state, and they intended to do so with the claim of Iraqi cooperation.  It looks like they’ll need a new plan.

A disaster is playing out in Australia with some two hundred wildfires burning out of control.  The shame is that “green” laws have been enacted (similar to the situation in California) where people are not allowed to clear trees or brush around their properties.  The flora and fauna just wouldn’t be amused.  So the fires sweep across the landscape without sparing anything in their path.  People are stranded in some locations, particularly in the small beachfront communities between Sydney and Melbourne.  People don’t have electricity, they don’t have phone service, and some are being rescued by the Australian navy.  What a shame, especially knowing that some of it was at least partially avoidable.

Mark

PS  We’ve received a bulk shipment of the new Watch magazine that features the smoky insignia of Iran on the cover. We went that route largely because of the recent wave of rage that swept cities and towns across Iran.  But that choice seems to have been made even more relevant by the action that has been taken against a couple of Iran’s bloodiest commanders, responsible for the loss of untold American lives and the lives of people all across the Middle East.  The dead guys were planning further attacks against our troops, probably intending to go after the embassy grounds, according to a statement just delivered by President Trump.  If you don’t have the new magazine yet, it’s on the way!

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 3 January 2020 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Iranian state TV carried a statement by Khamenei who also called Soleimani “the international face of resistance.” Khamenei declared three days of public mourning for the general’s death.

TRUMP ORDERS ATTACK THAT KILLS IRANIAN GEN. QASSIM SOLEIMANI, OTHER MILITARY OFFICIALS IN BAGHDAD, PENTAGON SAYS

Another Iranian foreign minister warned that the U.S. would bear all the consequences of the “foolish” military attack, claiming his assassination would only escalate tensions in the region given that he was “THE most effective force” fighting terrorism carried out by the Islamic State.

Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of Islamic Republic of Iran, said on Twitter that “The US’ act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani—THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation.”

“The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,” he said.

Zarif references three affiliated Sunni Muslim extremist groups who’ve held territory in Iraq and Syria. The modern Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has ties that date back to the

The Pentagon confirmed that President Trump ordered the early Friday-morning attack that killed Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, among other military officials at Baghdad International Airport. The airstrike hit in Iraq.

An adviser to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani also quickly warned Trump of retaliation from Tehran.

“Trump through his gamble has dragged the U.S. into the most dangerous situation in the region,” Hessameddin Ashena wrote on the social media app Telegram. “Whoever put his foot beyond the red line should be ready to face its consequences.”

Soleimani is the military mastermind whom Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had deemed equally as dangerous as Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In October, Baghdadi killed himself during a U.S. raid on a compound in northwest Syria, seven months after the so-called ISIS “caliphate” crumbled as the terrorist group lost its final swath of Syrian territory in March.

The overnight attack occurred amid tensions with the U.S. after an Iran-backed militia attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was targeted Tuesday by angry mobs who were protesting recent U.S. airstrikes. The two-day siege outside of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad came to an end Wednesday afternoon after dozens of pro-Iran militiamen and their supporters withdrew from the compound.

Soleimani was the long-running leader of the elite intelligence wing called Quds Force – which itself has been a designated terror group since 2007, and is estimated to be 20,000 strong. Considered one of the most powerful men in Iran, he routinely was referred to as its “shadow commander” or “spymaster.”

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In April 2019, the State Department announced Iran was responsible for killing 608 U.S. troops during the Iraq War. Soleimani was the head of the Iranian and Iranian-backed forces carrying out those operations killing American troops. According to the State Department, 17 percent of all deaths of U.S. personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 were orchestrated by Soleimani.

As recently as 2015, a travel ban and United Nations Security Council resolutions had barred Soleimani from leaving Iran.

Friday’s Baghdad strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, a source told Fox News. In all, at least seven people were killed and at least three rockets were fired, officials told The Associated Press. An official with the Popular Mobilization Forces said its airport protocol officer, Mohammed Reda, also died.

Fox News’ Frank Miles, Lucas Tomlinson, John Roberts, Mike Arroyo, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-promises-harsh-retaliation-after-us-airstrike-kills-iranian-gen-qassem-soleimani

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