* Iranian missiles hit bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq
* Tehran says attack retaliation for general's killing
* U.S. response awaited amid prospect of escalating conflict
* No word from United States on casualties
* Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/35DS8dy
By Ahmed Aboulenein and Phil Stewart
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Iranian forces fired
missiles at military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq on
Wednesday in retaliation for the U.S. killing of an Iranian
general, raising the stakes in its conflict with Washington amid
concern of a wider war in the Middle East.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing a
gathering of Iranians chanting "Death to America", said the
attacks were a "slap on the face" of the United States and U.S.
troops should leave the region.
Tehran's foreign minister said Iran took "proportionate
measures" in self-defence and did not seek to escalate the
confrontation.
The next move appeared to lie with Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who ordered the drone strike
that killed General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday, gave
an initial response on Twitter: "All is well!".
Casualties and damage from the missile attacks were being
assessed and Trump said he would make a statement on Wednesday.
Trump, who was impeached last month and faces an election
this year, at the weekend threatened to target 52 Iranian sites
if Iran retaliated for Soleimani's killing. TOLL DISPUTED
Iranian state television said Iran had fired 15 ballistic
missiles from its territory at U.S. targets in its neighbour
Iraq. The bases targeted were al-Asad air base and another
facility in Erbil, the Pentagon said.
One source said early indications were of no U.S.
casualties, while other U.S. officials declined to comment.
Iranian television said 80 "American terrorists" had been
killed and U.S. helicopters and military equipment damaged. It
provided no evidence of how it obtained that information.
Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland said none of their
troops in Iraq were hurt. Britain, which also has personnel in
Iraq, condemned the Iranian action. Iraq said its forces did not
suffer casualties.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq along with the
other foreign forces in a coalition that has trained and backed
Iraqi forces against the threat of Islamic State militants.
"As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take
all necessary measures to protect and defend U.S. personnel,
partners, and allies in the region," Pentagon spokesman Jonathan
Hoffman said.
In Tehran, Khamenei said in a televised speech: "Military
action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending
the corrupting presence of America in the region.
"This region will not accept the presence of America," he
said, renewing Tehran's long-standing demand for Washington to
withdraw its forces.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the
strikes "concluded" Tehran's response to the killing of
Soleimani, who had been responsible for building up Iran's
network of proxy armies across the Middle East and who was
buried in his hometown Kerman on Monday after days of national
mourning.
"We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves
against any aggression," he wrote on Twitter.
Iranian television reported an official in the supreme
leader's office as saying the missile attacks were the "weakest"
of several retaliation scenarios. It quoted another source
saying Iran had lined up 100 other potential targets.
WAY OUT?
If the U.S. military was spared casualties and Iran takes no
further measures to retaliate for Soleimani's killing, there
might be an opportunity for Washington and Tehran to seek a way
out of their increasingly violent confrontation.
Analysts have said that despite its strident rhetoric, Iran
will want to avoid any conventional military conflict with
superior U.S. forces. In the past, they say it has focussed on
asymmetric strikes, such as sabotage or other military action
via proxies.
U.S. officials said Soleimani was killed because of
intelligence indicating forces under his command planned attacks
on U.S. targets in the region. They have not provided evidence.
Before Soleimani was buried his body was taken on a tour of
cities in Iraq and Iran, drawing huge crowds. A stampede at his
funeral on Tuesday killed at least 56 people.
An hour after the Iranian missile attack, state television
showed footage of the burial, where hundreds of people started
chanting "God is greatest" when the strikes were announced over
loudspeakers.
"His revenge was taken and now he can rest in peace,"
Iranian television said.
Friction between Iran and the United States rose after Trump
withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear deal between Iran and world
powers, approved by his predecessor Barack Obama, and reimposed
sanctions on Tehran slashing its vital oil exports.
Khamenei, in his speech on Wednesday, ruled out any
resumption of talks with Washington on the 2015 deal.
Trump's U.S. political rivals have challenged his decision
to order Soleimani's killing and questioned its timing in a U.S.
election year.
Democrats in the U.S. Congress and some of the party's
presidential contenders warned about the escalating conflict.
"We must ensure the safety of our service members, including
ending needless provocations from the Administration and
demanding that Iran cease its violence. America & world cannot
afford war," U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi
said on Twitter. In an apparently unrelated incident, a Ukrainian airliner
with more than 160 people on board crashed on Wednesday soon
after taking off from Tehran, killing all on board. The
Ukrainian embassy said the cause was engine failure.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Pompeo tiptoes away from talk of 'imminent' attack planned by
Iran's Soleimani Sanders flex foreign policy muscles in 2020 U.S.
Democratic race after Iran strike increasingly critical of Trump's record on Iran,
most expect war fires missiles at U.S bases in Iraq https://tmsnrt.rs/35DS8dy
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>