The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they happen.
Pro-Iran militia vows to stay at US embassy in Baghdad despite pullback call
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces paramilitary orders its supporters to end their sit-in at the US embassy compound in Baghdad, but hardliners pledge to stay put outside the mission.
“You delivered your message,” the PMF says in a statement addressed to the crowds encircling the embassy since yesterday in outrage over deadly American air strikes on a pro-Iran PMF faction over the weekend.
It calls on supporters to regroup outside the high-security Green Zone where the mission is located, but a leading commander in Kataeb Hezbollah, the group targeted in the US raids, tells AFP they would “remain” at the embassy.
Energy minister says gas from new Leviathan rig flowing to Jordan
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz says natural gas is now flowing to Jordan after an offshore rig of the Leviathan field went online yesterday.
“Israel is becoming an energy exporter for the first time in its history,” Steinitz tells the Ynet news site.
Though an Israeli firm began sending to natural gas to Jordan in 2017, marking Israel’s first ever gas exports. Leviathan is expected to provide a significantly greater amount.
Steintz says gas is expected to begin flowing to Egypt in the next week to 10 days.
US troops fired tear gas on Wednesday as Iran-backed militiamen and other protesters gathered outside the American Embassy in Baghdad for a second day set fire to the roof of a reception area inside the embassy compound.
Dozens of Iran-allied militiamen and their supporters had camped out at the gates of the embassy overnight, a day after they broke into the compound, trashing a reception area and smashing windows before pulling back. It was one of the worst attacks on a US diplomatic mission in years.
The US Marines guarding the embassy fired tear gas Wednesday as more crowds arrived and after the protesters lit a fire on the roof of the reception area. Smoke rose from the building. There have been no reports of any injuries since the protests began.
The violence comes as Iran and its allies have faced unprecedented mass protests in recent months and after heavy US sanctions on Iran that have cratered its economy and raised tensions across the region. In Iraq, the protesters have been angered at their own government’s corruption and economic mismanagement, as well as its close ties to Tehran.
President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the attack on the embassy and Defense Secretary Mark Esper later announced the immediate deployment of an infantry battalion of about 750 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. He did not specify their destination, but a US official familiar with the decision said they will go to Kuwait.
Iran has denied any involvement in the attack on the embassy. Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted by state media on Tuesday as warning the US against any “miscalculation” in the worsening standoff.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday said that US President Donald Trump was powerless to do anything to Iran, which will not hesitate to strike against any who threaten its interests.
Khamenei scoffed at remarks Trump made the previous day, in which the US leader said he was holding Tehran responsible for a violent assault on the US embassy in Iraq by pro-Iranian demonstrators, who breached the outer wall of the Baghdad compound and burned property inside.
“That guy has tweeted that we see Iran responsible for the events in Baghdad & we will respond to Iran,” Khamenei wrote on his official Twitter account.
“1st: You can’t do anything,” he wrote. “2nd: If you were logical — which you’re not — you’d see that your crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan … have made nations hate you.
“If the Islamic Republic decides to challenge & fight, it will do so unequivocally,” Khamenei continued. “We’re not after wars, but we strongly defend the Iranian nation’s interests, dignity, & glory. If anyone threatens that, we will unhesitatingly confront & strike them.”
On Tuesday Trump threatened Iran with strong action over the embassy clashes.
“Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities,” he said on Twitter.
“They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat,” wrote Trump, adding “Happy New Year!”
Later, he said he did not foresee war with Tehran over the embassy incident.
“I don’t see that happening,” Trump said at his holiday retreat in Florida when a reporter asked about the possibility of war with the Islamic Republic. “I like peace.”
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