page_title: Attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Iraqi Army officers increase the number of soldiers during the second day of protests at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 1, 2020.
context_page_description: The 2019–20 attack on the U.S. embassy occurred in Baghdad, Iraq, on 31 December 2019. Kata'ib Hezbollah militiamen and their Popular Mobilization Forces supporters and sympathizers attacked the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone in response to U.S. airstrikes on 29 December 2019 that targeted weapons depots and command and control installations of Kata'ib Hezbollah across Iraq and Syria.
  The attack occurred amidst the backdrop of the 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis, leading the United States to blame Iran and its non-state allies in Iraq for orchestrating the attack, which Iran denied. The U.S. responded by sending hundreds of additional troops to the Persian Gulf region, including approximately 100 U.S. Marines to reinforce security at the Baghdad embassy. No deaths or serious injuries occurred during the attack and protesters never breached the main compound.
context_section_description: U.S. president Donald Trump accused Iran of "orchestrating" the attack on the embassy and added that they would be held "fully responsible". U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named then-Popular Mobilization Forces deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais Khazali and PMF commander Hadi al-Amiri (both of which were present at the embassy attack), and PMF chairman Falih Alfayyadh as responsible for the attack; al-Amiri and Alfayyadh were reportedly guests to the White House during the Obama administration. Iran's foreign ministry denied they were behind the protests at the U.S. embassy and warned against any retaliation. Supreme leader of Iran Ali Khamenei tweeted "If Iran wants to fight a country, it will strike directly." 
  Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz held Iran responsible for the embassy attack, saying that Iran had made a "grave mistake" by attacking the embassy and called on the international community to confront what he called the "rebel regime" in Tehran.
  On 2 January 2020, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said "the game has changed" and stated that the U.S. would preemptively strike Iranian-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq if there were indications they were preparing to attack U.S. forces, while also urging the Iraqi government to resist Iranian influence. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley emphasized that any group that attempted to overrun the Baghdad embassy will "run into a buzzsaw".
  Hours after Esper's announcement, in the early morning hours of 3 January 2020, the commander of Iran′s Quds Force, Major General Qasem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in a U.S. drone strike while traveling in a convoy near Baghdad International Airport. The U.S. attack was formally announced by the United States Department of Defense in a press release.
  On 26 January 2020, three rockets were fired on the U.S. embassy wounding at least one staff member present in the cafeteria at dinner time, with the nationality of the wounded still undisclosed, other sources reported 3 wounded.
caption: Iraqi Army officers outside the smoldering outer perimeter of the U.S. embassy, 1 January 2020
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