While the escalating tensions in the Middle East came to a head this week, the pressure in relations between Tehran and Washington, D.C., has been brewing for months. In reality, the intermittent spike of enmity between Iran and the U.S. spans several decades, though this latest spat began in 2018 when President Donald Trump decided to unilaterally withdraw the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. You can read what led up to this week’s airstrikes and attacks here.
Here’s a timeline of what’s happened between the two countries this week:
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Airstrike over the weekend
On Sunday, U.S. airstrikes killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq called the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the strikes were retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.
Storming of the U.S. Embassy
The first signs of aggression towards the United States were seen Tuesday when Iraqi Shiite militiamen and their supporters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday. The protesters were angered by deadly airstrikes that were targetting Iran-backed militia. They smashed the main door and set fire to the reception area in one of the worst attacks on the U.S. embassy in recent memory. Trump blamed Iran for the embassy breach and called on Iraq to protect the diplomatic mission. Read more about the storming of the embassy here.
Killing the general
Thursday night, after Trump gave the directive, the U.S. military carried out another airstrike at Baghdad airport that killed 62-year-old Gen. Qassem Soleimani and several members of Iran-backed militia. Soleimani was a popular figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure. For the U.S. and Israel, he was a shadowy figure in command of Iran’s proxy forces, responsible for fighters in Syria backing President Bashar Assad and for the deaths of American troops in Iraq. Read more about what we know about Gen. Quassem Soleimani here.
‘Harsh retaliation’
Needless to say, the killing of Iran’s top general did not go over well. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that “harsh retaliation is waiting” for the U.S. after the airstrike that killed the architect of Iran’s interventions across the Middle East. Khamenei declared three days of public mourning and appointed Maj. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani’s deputy, to replace him as head of the Quds Force. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the killing a “heinous crime" and vowed his country would “take revenge.” Read more about how Iran has reacted to the Thursday airstrike.
‘Did not take action to start a war’
In a press conference Friday, Trump said the decision to conduct an airstrike was not to start a war but rather “to stop a war.”
More troops headed overseas
The U.S. is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Middle East as reinforcements in the volatile aftermath of Soleimani’s killing. The troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are in addition to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters. The U.S. already has about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mostly to train and advise Iraqi forces fighting IS. Americans in the region were also asked to leave immediately for their own safety. Read more about U.S. troops being sent overseas in the aftermath of the airstrike here.
Were Trump’s actions legal? It depends...
A big question after the airstrike has been did Trump have the legal authority to order the killing of Iran’s top general in Iraq. In its limited explanation so far, the Pentagon said Soleimani was “actively developing” plans to kill American diplomats and service members. That would appear to place the action within the legal authority of the president, as commander in chief, to use force in defense of the nation under Article II of the Constitution, said Bobby Chesney, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who specializes in national security issues. Read more about what other experts say about the legality of Trump’s move.
What your representatives think
Texas senators and representatives quickly began weighing in after news of the airstrike broke Thursday night. While both Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) expressed support for Trump’s actions, Democrats like Julian Castro were not too pleased with how a major action was taken without consulting Congress. Read more about how your representatives feel about the airstrike here.
Oil and gas and the impact on Houston
Energy insiders in the nation’s oil capital brace for the possibility of a disruption in global markets. Houston entrepreneur and veteran of the energy industry, Bob Cavnar told KPRC 2 that he worries the Strait of Hormuz will take center stage in the conflict between the US and Iran. Meanwhile oil prices surged as much as 4% before paring down Thursday night following news of the attack. Read more about the significance of the Strait of Hormuz and how spiking rates for oil will affect your pocket here.
