WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is weighing adjustments to its defensive posture in the Middle East after Iran upended assumptions by staging a missile attack in Iraq, a country where it wields influence, a U.S. defense official said on Thursday. For days before Wednesday’s unprecedented strike, Iran had threatened to retaliate over the U.S. killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani – threats that Washington took seriously. Reuters reported on Sunday that the United States had detected that Iranian missile forces across the country had been put on a heightened state of alert. A missile attack had been seen inside of the U.S. government as the most likely option for any formal response from Iran’s military. It was unclear whether the U.S. military might now seek to station Patriots inside of Iraq – and where they would be moved from.

Source: National Post January 09, 2020 22:18 UTC