Top Iranian advisor slams Trump al-Assad Base claims as 'sheer lies'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 Feb 2024 14:56
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Ali Shamkhani refutes Trump's claims regarding a phone call in January 2020 that notified him of an Iranian attack on Ain al-Assad.

US troops clear the rubble generated by an Iranian missile strike on the US-operated Ain al-Assad Airbase, in Anbar, Iraq, on January 13, 2020. (AP)

The political advisor to the leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ali Shamkhani, refuted claims made at an earlier time by former US President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Trump had said at an earlier time that Iranian officials contacted him just before targeting the US-operated Ain al-Assad Airbase in Iraq.

The former President told Fox that Iran "called me" before the retaliatory operation to let him know of alleged plans to deliberately miss US facilities in the Airbase.

"We knew they weren’t going to hit inside the fort."

Trump made the statement in an attempt to claim that his administration had deterred Iran.

Shamkhani has now hit back at the former reality show TV star, saying that his remarks are "complete lies".

"The attack on the American Ain al-Assad Base was surprising, intended to cause the greatest damage," Shamkhani stressed.

The Iranian advisor said that only Iraq was notified of the attack, "half an hour before the strike," on the basis of the principle of "good neighborliness".

Shamkhani, however, did say that the process of notifying Iraqi authorities was done in a way that "does not allow Washington to take preventive measures."

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps launched the attack on the base on January 8, 2020, firing at least 11 ballistic missiles that pounded the site. Scenes from the aftermath of the attack and a tour by CNN to the base confirmed that the missiles hit their targets. The US admitted that at least 110 of its troops suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the attack. This may range from concussions to a complete loss of motor skills.

The attack came in response to an assassination plot carried out by an American military drone against the leader of al-Quds Force of the IRGC, Qassem Soleimani, who was martyred alongside the leader of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, outside the Baghdad International Airport, on January 3, 2020.