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Trump threatens Iran over embassy incident, which he calls the 'Anti-Benghazi' | TheHill

posted onJanuary 1, 2020
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Article snippet: MORE threatened Iran after demonstrators, including members of an Iranian-backed militia, breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday. "Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities," Trump tweeted. "They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!" Trump declared that the embassy in Iraq was safe thanks to the deployment of U.S. military resources and a "rapid response" from the Iraqi government. He called the incident the "Anti-Benghazi" in a follow-up tweet, a reference to the 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Libya in which two Americans were killed. Thousands of members and supporters of an Iranian-backed militia stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday. Some chanted "Death to America," set small fires and sprayed graffiti inside the walls of the compound. They did not enter the main buildings of the embassy. Iraqi security forces reportedly did not intervene to stop the demonstrators from advancing until a commander arrived and issued orders.  No U.S. personnel were reported harmed amid the demonstrations, and a State Department spokesperson denied that evacuations were taking place. The president earlier Tuesday tweeted that he held Iran responsible for the incident at the embassy. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran spiked over the weekend after the Trump administration blamed the Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah militia for an att... Link to the full article to read more

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