US soldiers wounded in huge rocket attack on Iraq base as fears of Middle East war grow

At least five US soldiers were reportedly wounded in a suspected rocket attack at a military base in Iraq amid growing fears of a war in the Middle East.

Two Katyusha rockets were fired at the al-Asad airbase in western Iraq, two Iraqi security sources said. One Iraqi security source said the rockets fell inside the base.

The attack follows the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’s top political leader in Iran in suspected Israeli strikes. Both groups are backed by Iran.

It was unclear whether the attack was linked to threats by Iran to retaliate over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.One of the US soldiers is seriously injured, reported Reuters.

American defense officials said troops at the al-Asad air base were still assessing the damage.

Meanwhile, the US has amped up its diplomatic efforts, using different channels to advise Iran against escalation in the region, suggesting that it is not in their interest, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday.

Washington was “engaged in intense diplomacy, pretty much around the clock" to help calm tensions, said secretary of state Antony Blinken.

«All parties must take steps to ease tensions. Escalation is not in anyone’s interests. It will only lead to more conflict, more violence, more insecurity,» he said.

Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran last week in an attack that drew threats from Iran which saidit will “punish” Israel. The Israeli officials have not yet claimed responsibility for the killing. Iran backs Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza, and also the Lebanese group Hezbollah, whose senior military commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut last week.

Mr Blinken in his remarks also called