[CNN]
Just tuning in to the US-Iran faceoff? Here's everything you've missed
Just
24 hours ago, it seemed like the United States and Iran could be on the
brink of war, after Tehran responded to the US killing of Iranian
general
Qasem Soleimani, the powerful commander of the elite Quds Force, by striking bases which housed US troops in Iraq.
It
was the latest in a whirlwind two weeks of military action and
ratcheted up tensions. The world watched with bated breath for how
Washington would respond to the attacks, which did not kill or injure
any US or Iraqi troops.
On
Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said "Iran appears to be standing
down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good
thing for the world."
Here's what happened and where we're at now:
December 27: A
rocket attack believed to be linked to a Shiite militia group, backed
by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, killed a US civilian
contractor and wounded several US and Iraq military personnel on a base
near Kirkuk, Iraq.
December 29: According to the Pentagon,
US forces conducted airstrikes at
five facilities in Iraq and Syria controlled by a Shiite military group
known as Kataib Hezbollah -- the group that American officials blamed
for the attack on a base near Kirkuk.
December 31: Pro-Iranian protesters, demonstrating against the American airstrikes,
attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad, scaling walls and forcing the gates open.
January 3: Trump
said he ordered a precision drone strike at the Baghdad airport to
"terminate" Soleimani, a top Iranian commander who was plotting
"imminent and sinister attacks on Americans diplomats and military
personnel." Others were killed in the attack.
January 4: Iran
vowed retaliation against the US, in response to the strike. Trump
warned that if Iran targeted "any Americans or American assets," he he
would sanction specific military strikes against Iranian cultural sites,
which could amount to a war crime.
January 5: Soleimani's
body arrived in his home country, where thousands mourned him.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, the military adviser to Iran's
Supreme Leader,
told CNN in an exclusive interview that Tehran would retaliate directly against US "military sites."
January 6: The US Defense Department said there were
no plans to withdraw from Iraq after
a letter was mistakenly circulated from the military's Task Force Iraq
suggesting just that. United Nations Secretary General
warned that tensions were at their "highest level this century."
January 7: More than 50 people were reported killed, and at least 200 injured, in a
stampede at Soleimani's funeral in his hometown of Kerman.
January 8: In
the early hours of Wednesday morning local time, Iranian ballistic
missiles struck two bases housing US forces in Iraq. Iran's Foreign
Minister Javad Zarif said Tehran "concluded proportionate measures in
self-defense." Trump didn't respond on Tuesday night US time, except to
tweet that "all is well." In a statement later on Wednesday, he said the
strikes appeared to be the extent of Iran's actions and pledged more US
sanctions on Tehran, signalling a scaling down of tensions, at least
for the moment.
