Sources close to the Iranian Supreme Leader have confirmed that Iran has indeed interpreted the U.S. drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force as an act of war and that Iran intends to enact a forceful retaliatory military response and that Iran’s response will be exacted against U.S. military sites.
However, the same Iranian source was also careful to stress in no uncertain terms that Iran was not looking to enter into a wider or prolonged war with the United States.
The source also stated that the Iranian leadership stated that the U.S. should expect “appropriate reactions to their actions” and after Iran has retaliated with “equal force” — then Iran is hopeful that this eruption would end without further escalation.
President Trump on the other hand has communicated that he expects Iran to accept the recent bombing without retaliation from the regime, and if Iran does respond with any attacks then the U.S. will take further action again against Iran — tweeting that “they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before.” President Trump also tweeted that the U.S. had “designated 52 targets in Iran, including sites that are important to Iranian culture.”
In response to this threat from President Trump sources close to prominent Iranian military advisers expressed that in such an unfortunate eventuality the Iranian military leadership would consider such action as a “war crime” and that Iran would respond with a “direct military confrontation” with the United States.
Meanwhile, on SAT 04 JAN 2019 hundreds of U.S. soldiers deployed from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait to serve as reinforcements in the Middle East amid rising tensions following the recent U.S. Forces killing of the Iranian general in Iraq.
Lt. Col. Mike Burns, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division, reported that 3,500 members of the division’s quick-deployment brigade, also known as the 82nd’s Immediate Response Force, will have deployed within a few days. The most recent group of service members to deploy will join about 700 who left earlier in the week, Burns said.
Hasty deployment related logistical activities were clearly evident at bustling Fort Bragg staging areas in recent days. A loading ramp on the post was seen teeming early Saturday morning with combat gear and restless soldiers, while other troops were observed boarding buses.
These additional troop deployments indicate the U.S. taking proactive steps to strategically pre-position key personnel and equipment assets in the face of heightened concerns about potential Iranian retaliatory action in the volatile aftermath of Friday’s drone strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. The action by the U.S. was considered pre-emotive and necessary based on intel suggesting the the Iranian general, who has been blamed for attacks on U.S. troops and American allies going back decades, was about to strike U.S. interests again.
These recent events have caught many within service connected communities completely off guard, as both sides express an unbridled mutual commitment to retaliatory action —raising fears of an all-out war.