Analysis: Fiery rhetoric of Trump era is gone, but flare-up in northern Iraq is a microcosm of tension to come

Joe Biden faces his first real test with Iran. A barrage of 15 rockets in northern Iraq that struck a US base, killing a military contractor and wounding a soldier, were likely aimed as much at testing the new president’s mettle as they were at causing damage.

In the hours after the attack on Erbil airport, where much of the remaining US presence in Iraq is based, a Shia group loyal to Iran felt emboldened enough to claim it. Although the boast was from a hitherto unknown group, it left no doubt who was behind the first such barrage since Biden’s inauguration.

Continue reading…

You May Also Like

Team England celebrate ‘exceptional’ Commonwealth Games medal tally

Host nation win record 176 medals, including 57 gold Chef de mission…

Biden tours flood-ravaged Kentucky as White House highlights climate crisis

Biden calls passage of historic climate and healthcare legislation as a ‘big…

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 436 of the invasion

Kyiv downs own drone after it lost control; Russian forces too degraded…