Mortar shells hit US air base in Iraq

BAGHDAD: Three mortar shells have hit an air base just north of Baghdad where American trainers are present, the Iraqi military said.

Officials said the attack caused a small fire, but no casualties. The attack on Balad air base comes amid rising tension in the Middle East between the US and Iran, which ratcheted up on Thursday after suspected attacks on two oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.

Last month, a rocket exploded less than a mile away from the US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone. The current crisis is rooted in the US withdrawal last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. Washington subsequently re-imposed sanctions on Iran, sending its economy into freefall.