The December 29 U.S. strike on the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah (KAH) militia in Iraq represented the first kinetic U.S. response to Iranian provocations that began in May.

Protesters—including members and supporters of Iranian proxy Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH)—ended their efforts to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, after a spokesman for the U.S.-designated terrorist group ordered the demonstrators to disperse. The withdrawal was reportedly conditioned on Iraqi Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, agreeing to move ahead with …

A U.S. strike that killed the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force, IRGC Major General Qassem Soleimani, and the founder of the pro-Iranian Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, represents a major escalation of U.S. conflict with Iran.