US pays $2M a month to protect Pompeo, aide from Iran threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it’s paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide, both of whom face “serious and credible” threats from Iran.

The department told Congress in a report that the cost of protecting Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook between August 2021 and February 2022 amounted to $13.1 million. The report, dated Feb. 14 and marked “sensitive but unclassified,” was obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday.

Pompeo and Hook led the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and the report says U.S. intelligence assesses that the threats to them have remained constant since they left government and could intensify. The threats have persisted even as President Joe Biden’s administration has been engaged in indirect negotiations with Iran over a U.S. return to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran Claims Responsibility For Attacking 'Israeli Strategic Center' In Iraq

Update (03.13.2022 1158ET): Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed responsibility for a missile strike on what it called an Israeli "strategic center" located in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, located in northern Iraq, according to Bloomberg, citing the Revolutionary Guard's official news portal, Sepah News.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is closely aligned to the IRGC, said 10 precision-guided missiles were fired from northwestern Iran, citing an informed source that it didn’t name. The report added that the strike “very likely” resulted in “many casualties” without providing any details. -Bloomberg

Nobody was hurt or killed in the attack, according to US Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, denying earlier reports that the US consulate was the target and had been hit. Sherman told Fox News that the incident was of "great concern to all of us," and amounted to attacking Iraq's sovereignty.

As we noted last night, the attack comes days after Iran vowed revenge for an Israeli missile attack near Damascus, Syria which killed two IRGC members. According to a Sunday statement by Sepah, there will be a "severe and destructive response" to any future attacks from Israel.

* * *

Update (2130ET): Initial reports that missiles 'struck' the US Embassy in Erbil, Iraq have been downgraded.

A dozen ballistic missiles launched from outside the country did hit the northern Kurdish regional capital on Sunday - however there were no casualties, and no parties have claimed responsibility.

According to Reuters, a US State Department spokesperson called it an "outrageous attack," however no Americans were hurt - nor was there any damage to US government facilities in Erbil.

U.S. forces stationed at Erbil's international airport complex have in the past come under fire from rocket and drone attacks that U.S. officials blame on Iran-aligned militia groups, but no such attacks have occurred for several months. -Reuters

Kurdish officials did not reveal where the missiles struck - however a spokesperson for regional authorities said there were no flight interruptions at Erbil airport, according to the report.

Iran Hits U.S. Consulate Site in Erbil, Iraq With a Dozen Ballistic Missiles: AP

Iran launched a dozen ballistic missiles at the Iraqi city of Erbil late Saturday night in the vicinity of an unoccupied American consulate under construction, according to the Associated Press.

In a statement released after the attack, the State Department said, “We condemn this outrageous attack and display of violence,” and confirmed that no U.S. personnel or facilities had been damaged.

Lawk Ghafuri, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government, confirmed that 12 missiles had struck Erbil and claimed that they had been launched “from outside Iraq” and produced no casualties.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi stopped short of attributing the attack but condemned the “aggression which targeted the dear city of Erbil and spread fear amongst its inhabitants.” He called it “an attack on the security of our people” and pledged to investigate it.

Social media users in Erbil posted clips of apparent missile strikes in Erbil followed by large explosions. Kurdistan24, a local news channel with a studio near the scene of the strike, also broadcast footage of broken glass and damage at its offices near what the outlet claimed was a missile attack.

Iranian-backed militia media outlets quickly claimed that the attack was carried out by Iran using Fateh-110 short range ballistic missiles. Social media users in Iran also posted videos of what appeared to be missiles streaking through the sky in towns and cities near Iran’s border with Iraq.

Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attack, and semi official Iranian news outlets have instead amplified claims by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. Fars News, which is close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, tweeted out clips from Sabreen News, a popular Iranian-backed militia Telegram channel, which noted that security camera footage showed the missiles struck at 1:20 a.m., the same time that missiles from a U.S. drone killed Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. The caption said that the timing was “not accidental at all.”

U.S. Strike Kills Iran’s Most Important Military Commander

Iran has twice before launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi targets. In September 2018, the IRGC’s Aerospace Force launched short range ballistic missiles at a facility belonging to the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, an armed separatist group that has called for an independent Kurdish homeland in Iran. In January 2020, Iran also attacked U.S. forces with a ballistic missile strike on Al-Asad airbase in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani.

• Middle East

Iran puts second military satellite into orbit - Tasnim

Iran will send a series of military satellites into orbit over the coming years, Space Commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Force Ali Jafarabadi said on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"We will launch a series of Noor satellites in the coming years. The space program of the country, of which we are a part, is to stabilize various scientific, research and defence satellites in low-earth orbit and then reach orbit of 36,000 kilometers above land," Jafarabadi said.

The U.S. military says the same long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also allow Tehran to launch longer-range weapons, possibly including nuclear warheads.

Tehran denies U.S. assertions that such activity is a cover for ballistic missile development and says it has never pursued the development of nuclear weapons.

"The IRGC successfully placed Iran's second military satellite, Noor 2, into orbit 500 kilometres from earth," the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

The three-stage Qased, or "Messenger", carrier launched the Noor 2, from the Shahroud space port, it added. The same type of rockets, which use a combination of liquid and solid fuels, carried the first military satellite.

In December, Iran's space launch failed to put its three payloads into orbit after the rocket was unable to reach the required speed, a defence ministry spokesman said.

The attempted launch drew criticism from the United States, Germany and France.

Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programs in the Middle East, has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent years due to technical issues.

The United States imposed sanctions on Iran's civilian space agency and two research organisations in 2019, saying they were being used to advance Tehran's ballistic missile program.

Tehran denies that its space activity is a cover for ballistic missile development.

Iran will send a series of military satellites into orbit over the coming years, Space Commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Force Ali Jafarabadi said on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"We will launch a series of Noor satellites in the coming years. The space program of the country, of which we are a part, is to stabilize various scientific, research and defence satellites in low-earth orbit and then reach orbit of 36,000 kilometers above land," Jafarabadi said.

The U.S. military says the same long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also allow Tehran to launch longer-range weapons, possibly including nuclear warheads.

Tehran denies U.S. assertions that such activity is a cover for ballistic missile development and says it has never pursued the development of nuclear weapons.

"The IRGC successfully placed Iran's second military satellite, Noor 2, into orbit 500 kilometres from earth," the semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

The three-stage Qased, or "Messenger", carrier launched the Noor 2, from the Shahroud space port, it added. The same type of rockets, which use a combination of liquid and solid fuels, carried the first military satellite.

In December, Iran's space launch failed to put its three payloads into orbit after the rocket was unable to reach the required speed, a defence ministry spokesman said.

The attempted launch drew criticism from the United States, Germany and France.

Iran, which has one of the biggest missile programs in the Middle East, has suffered several failed satellite launches in recent years due to technical issues.

The United States imposed sanctions on Iran's civilian space agency and two research organisations in 2019, saying they were being used to advance Tehran's ballistic missile program.

Tehran denies that its space activity is a cover for ballistic missile development.

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Misguided Defense of John Brennan and The Logan Act: a Dangerous and Unconstitutional Law

Iran analysts and nuclear experts say these attacks do not fundamentally alter Iran’s trajectory if it is seeking nuclear capabilities; at best, they delay progress by a few months or a year. There is no way, short of regime change or armed invasion, that countries can deter rivals determined to obtain nuclear weapons.