Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday that the Iranian ballistic-missile attacks last week against two bases in Iraq that host U.S. forces was only the beginning of the retaliation for the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, the AP reported.
Nasrallah called the strike a “slap” and a message to Washington.
“The Americans must remove their bases, soldiers and officers and ships from our region. The alternative ... to leaving vertically is leaving horizontally. This is a decisive and firm decision,” said Nasrallah.
“We are speaking about the start of a phase, about a new battle, about a new era in the region,” he added.
Nasrallah also threatened U.S. forces in the region during a televised address on Jan. 6.
Separately on Sunday, the Iraqi military said in a statement that four Iraqi soldiers, including two officers, were wounded on Sunday when a barrage of eight Katyusha rockets was fired at Balad air base some 50 miles north of Baghdad, Reuters reported. While the base houses U.S. personnel, no American casualties were reported.
