Iranska generalen Qasem Soleimani dödad i amerikansk attack i Bagdad

Reuters

JUST IN: Iran's defense minister says Iran used short-range missiles in the attack against U.S. targets in Iraq

Carl Bildt


If Iran says that its missile strikes tonight have killed 80 Americans, and the US says that they killed no one, then let it all be with that and try to create an opening for some diplomacy. High time.

Flygsäkerhetsexperten Hans Kjäll är förvånad över att man så snabbt kan slå fast att orsaken var tekniska problem.

– Det är lite märkligt. Det är svårt att säga att det är tekniska problem om de inte har information som är väldigt signifikant, som att piloterna fick en varning i cockpit och hann skicka ett nödmeddelande innan kontakten bröts. Annars måste man vänta tills man har analyserat de svarta lådorna, säger han.

Flygplanstypen Boeing 737-800 är en av världens vanligaste. Den har ett konventionellt styrsystem, inte det digitaliserade som utgjort problem med de olycksdrabbade Boeing 737 Max-planen.

– Det är ingen skugga över flygplanstypen, den är bra. Oftast är det operativa fel, pilotfel, som orsakar haverierna med de här planen. Det kan vara andra yttre faktorer som påverkar också.

Iran’s targeted missile strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq appear to be carefully calibrated to appease growing anger at home while providing President Donald Trump with a chance to avoid a war that could devastate the region.

While it wasn’t immediately clear whether the missiles led to fatalities, both Iran and Trump left the door open for lowering tensions after the Islamic Republic’s retaliation for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani last week. Foreign minister Javad Zarif said Iran had “concluded proportionate measures” and didn’t seek war, while Trump tweeted “All is well!”

The strikes are “very much a measured response,” said Faysal Itani, a deputy director at the Center for Global Policy in Washington who has lived and worked in the Middle East. “Its response has to be dramatic enough to save face, but limited enough so as to avoid triggering an escalation cycle that could lead to overwhelming U.S. military action. This is spectacular enough to ‘count’ but does not force the U.S. to escalate in return.”

The ball is now in Trump’s court: He said he’ll make a statement on Wednesday morning in Washington. While the U.S. leader has repeatedly warned Iran, and cited the U.S.’s military strength in a tweet after the missile attack, he also said last week that Soleimani’s killing was meant “to stop a war.”

Iran’s leaders faced tremendous domestic pressure to hit back hard after the U.S. took out one of the country’s most powerful generals. Soleimani’s exploits in regional conflicts made him a national hero in Iran, with hundreds of thousands coming out this week for his funeral procession.

Even with the measured response, Iran is unlikely to halt efforts to push U.S. forces out of the region. A day before the missile strikes, Iran vowed to inflict an “historic nightmare” on the U.S. and said it was evaluating 13 possible ways to retaliate. Following the attack, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- the military’s premier fighting force -- called it the start of its “Martyr Soleimani” operation and said more responses would be coming.

Tom Burridge

The data shows the aircraft’s climb after take off was normal. At nearly 8000 feet the plane’s data suddenly disappears. This is unusual and suggests some type of catastrophic incident on the plane. Not clear what caused that incident. Claims of engine failure feel premature.