Iran specifically calibrated the missile strike on the US bases in Iraq to avoid serious damage, Washington Post reports citing senior officials of the US administration.
According to the interlocutor of the edition, this step allowed Iran to “save face” and avoid unleashing of full-scale hostilities.
The situation in the Middle East grew tense after the American forces hit the Shiite Kataib Hezbollah targets in Syria and Iraq at the end of December. After that, supporters of the movement launched an assault on the American diplomatic mission in Baghdad, and then Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Deputy Head of the Iraqi Shiite militia Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed during a special operation of Washington. The United States considers them involved in organizing an assault on the embassy.
On Wednesday night, Iran retaliated against American bases in Iraq for the killing of Soleimani. After the attack, the US President Donald Trump made an appeal to the nation, in which he announced the introduction of new sanctions against Tehran and demanded that international intermediaries withdraw from the atomic deal.