2:50
- ABC News
- January 8, 2020
A timeline of growing US-Iran tensions
What led up to the military strikes between the U.S. and Iran?
2:50
Iran broke another commitment under the nuclear deal -- meant to provide sanctions relief and economic benefits in exchange for limits to its nuclear program.
The move came as the country struggled under the new sanctions posed by the United States. Iran began working on advanced centrifuges that would allow the country to speed up its enrichment, according to state run news agency IRNA, a breach of the commitment made under the nuclear deal.
The breach followed two previous actions -- stockpiling a greater amount of enriched uranium above 300 kilograms and enriching uranium above 3.67%, the limits set by the accord.
Zarif defended the decision as a necessary response to U.S. \"economic terrorism\" and an effort to pressure Europe to provide more economic relief from U.S. sanctions.
A year and a half after pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said he was ready for a new agreement.
Rouhani was less inclined to such a move, saying there would be no negotiations until Trump eased or lifted the sanctions, which the U.S. agreed to do under the original deal.
Rouhani said the government would inject uranium gas into centrifuges at its underground nuclear facility at Fordo, another step away from the nuclear deal that would allow the facility to produce enriched uranium, which can fuel nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons.
The move was considered at the time the most provocative yet, with a former Obama administration lead sanctions expert calling it \"a very big, troubling step\" that \"will definitely raise temperatures in the region.\"
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a stark statement, saying any attack on a U.S. base by Iran or its proxies that “harm Americans, our allies, or our interests will be answered with a decisive U.S. response.\"
Critics condemned the sanctions as a barrier to diplomacy, but the White House argued if the U.S. wanted to speak with Iran, it would now talk to
One U.S. civilian contractor was killed and several service members were wounded in a rocket attack that targeted a military base in northern Iraq, according to the U.S. military.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack at Iraq's K1 military base -- which houses U.S. and coalition forces.
Multiple U.S. F-15s conducted strikes against an Iranian-backed group in Iraq and Syria.
Five facilities tied to Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH), including a KH weapon storage facilities as well as command and control locations the group used to plan and execute attacks on U.S. and coalition troops, were hit, according to a statement from chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman.
The Pentagon said KH was linked to Iran’s Quds Force and was responsible for recent attacks in Iraq, including the one two days before that killed a U.S. civilian contractor and injured several American and Iraqi forces.
Twenty-five of the groups fighters were killed and dozens more were wounded, according to The Associated Press.
When a senior State Department official was asked by reporters if there were concerns over retaliations by Iran or its proxies, the official said \"We don't have any fears.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/baghdad-embassy-window-gty-ps-200102_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in the wake of the U.S. airstrikes that killed fighters from the pro-Iranian militia Kata'ib Hezbollah, with many chanting \"Down, down USA.\"
The protesters managed to make it past an outer wall right up to the embassy gates, with Iraqi security forces reportedly not intervening until after U.S. forces used non-lethal means to repel the attack, according to a law enforcement source.
During the violent episode, which came after funerals for the fighters, protesters could be seen waving yellow militia flags outside the compound.
In response, an infantry battalion of about 750 soldiers from the U.S.'s 82nd Airborne Division was authorized to deploy to the Middle East \"immediately,\" according to a statement from Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, a dramatic escalation to already boiling tensions.
The White House said the attack was done \"at the direction of the President.\"
Trump, about 24 hours after the strike, defended his order and said Soleimani was “plotting imminent and sinister attacks\" on American diplomats and military personnel.
Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei vowed for \"vigorous vengeance.\"
\"His pure blood was shed by the hands of the cruelest of the mankind on the earth,\" Khamenei said in a statement.
Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis also died in the airstrike, Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, confirmed to ABC News.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/soliemani-mourners-protest-gty-jef-200107_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Iran launched multiple missiles that targeted American military facilities in Iraq, according to a U.S. official.
The facilities hit on Wednesday morning local time were in Erbil in northern Iraq and Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, the official said.
There were no U.S. or Iraqi casualties and the damage was minimal, according to a statement from President Trump.
President Trump struck a diplomatic but firm tone following the attacks, in what appeared to be a de-escalation of tensions.
Trump said that while \"Iran appears to be standing down,\" the U.S. will impose new sanctions on the country \"until Iran changes its behavior.\"
\"For far too long, all the way back to 1979, to be exact, nations have tolerated Iran's destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East and beyond,\" Trump said in his address to the nation, appearing to reference the 444-day hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. \"Those days are over. Iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen.\"
Trump did not detail the new economic sanctions, but called them \"powerful.\"
Later that day, both Switzerland and Oman's governments announced that the U.S. and Iran have been passing messages through the countries, which have served as the traditional intermediaries.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/iran-gty-er-210125_1611622721198_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
Omani officials have declined to detail specifics of the messages and have only described them as attempts to reduce tensions. The Swiss foreign ministry told ABC News in a statement that it has transmitted \"several messages\" through its channel in recent days, but a spokesperson also declined to offer specifics.
ABC News' Elizabeth McLaughlin and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
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