The United States is looking for permission from Iraq to install Patriot missile air defences inside the country to better defend US forces after Iran’s 8 January attack, which wounded 64 American troops, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said.
The US did not have Patriot deployed at the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq, where at least 11 of Iran’s ballistic missiles struck, killing no one but triggering massive blasts that caused traumatic brain injuries among US forces.
“We need the permission of the Iraqis,” Esper told a news conference on Thursday.
The Pentagon chief said the US military was still deciding on more tactical issues, such as where best to place the defences.
He said securing Iraq’s permission was one factor slowing the repositioning of air defences.
Tehran had been expected to retaliate against the US over the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. It was thought likely that Iran would use ballistic missiles.
But in the days prior to the Iranian strikes, the Pentagon had expected Iran to target US positions in countries other than Iraq, since Tehran counts influential allies in Baghdad.
The US had moved Patriot batteries last year to Saudi Arabia, for example.
The missile attacks capped a spiral of violence that began in late December. Both sides have refrained from further military escalation.