US airstrikes LIVE: Updates as fears of World War 3 erupt after Trump orders brutal attack

Reports say that seven people have died.

Major-General Qassem Soleimani, widely seen as the second most powerful man in Iran, was killed following a US missile attack at Baghdad’s international airport.

Iraqi officials and the state television reported that aside from Soleimani, Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack.

Follow below for live updates…

6.29am update: Asian stockmarkets fall

Asian shares stumble  after U.S. air strikes in Iraq

6.27am update: Brent oil prices rise after US attack

Brent jumps nearly $3 after U.S. air strike kills Iranian general

6.24am update: Russia issues its first reponse to assassination of Soleimani

Russia says the “assassination of Soleimani” will lead to clashes between Iran’s allies and Americans in Iraq

6.22am update: Iran’s supreme leader issues warning to Trump

Iran’s Khamenei says anti-U.S. resistance to increase after Soleimani death

6.20am update: Number of deaths rises 

Death toll in U.S. airstrikes in Baghdad has risen to 12

6.10am update: Airport reopens 

Baghdad airport reopens for air traffic after killon of Qasem Soleimani

6.08am update: Bernie Sanders describes killing of Soleimani as an “assassination”

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders appears to be the first Democratic candidate to refer to Soleimani’s death as an “assassination.”

6.05am update: Israel to hold security meeting

Israel to hold an emergency security meeting to assess situation following death of Iran’s Soleimani

5.59am update: Iran’s Defence Minister warns of “crushing response”

Iran’s Defence Minister said the assassination of Qasem Soleimani will receive a “crushing response”

5.53am update: Iranian Foreign Secretary says assassination will boost resistance in region

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said  the assassination of Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani would strengthen resistance against the United States and Israel in the region and the world.

Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has warned Trump of “harsh retaliation is waiting.”

Dollar slips to nine-week low on safe-haven yen as Mideast tensions flare 

5.45am update: Iranian Revoluntionary Guards retaliation threat

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have also threatened violent retaliation against the United States in response to Soleimani’s death.

5.32am update: Iran declares three days of mourning

The country has confirmed it will going into three days of mourning.

Reports suggest Iran will begin this today following the deaths at Baghdad Airport.

5.29am update: Rockets fired at vehicles carrying ‘high-profile guests’

Sources from the PMF told Al Jazeera that the US rockets which were fired had destroyed two vehicles carrying “high-profile guests”,

They had arrived at the airpot, escorted by a PMF official.

The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal.

They burned two vehicles, killing a total of seven people.

5.23am update: Trump’s previous warning to Iran

Yesterday, Trump ordered the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s alert brigade to deploy to Kuwait with immediate effect, following an attack on the American embassy by supporters of an Iranian backed militia.

He warned Iran that it “will pay a very big price” for any damage or loss of life to US citizens in the embassy.

Trump said: “This is not a warning, it is a threat.”

On Tuesday the US Defence Secretary, Mark Esper, confirmed that 750 paratroopers were already on their way to the Middle East.

5.20am update: ‘We’re on the brink of major conflict across the Middle East’

Mr Biden continued: “President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox, and he owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests, bother here and abroad, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.

“I’m not privy to the intelligence and much remains unknown, but Iran will surely respond.

“We could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East.”

5.16am update: ‘No American will mourn Soleimani’s passing’ – Biden

Influential figures from across the US have been responding to the attack which took place earlier this morning.

Democrat, and US President hopeful, Joe Biden took to Twitter to post his views.

He said: “No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing.

“He deserved to be brought to justice for his crime against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region.

“He supported terror and sowed chaos.

“None of that negates the fact that this is a huge escalatory move in an already dangerous region.”

5.11am update: Trump shares chilling image after brutal attack

Trump has provoked Iran on social media following a US air-strike which killed General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force.

The General was killed in Iraq as part of an operation the Pentagon have said was at “the direction of the president.”

Reports suggest a strike on Baghdad’s international airport took place, a number of people being killed.

The fear now is Iran could made a deadly reprisal.

Read more here.

5.06am update: ‘It’s rouge adventurism!’

A statement from the US Department of Defence said: “Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called the killing an act of US terrorism and said that the “US bears responsibility for all the consequences of its rogue adventurism.”

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have also threatened violent retaliation against the United States in response to Soleimani’s death.

5am update: Iran responds

Iran’s foreign secretary Mohammad Javad Zarif said: “The US’ act of international terrorism, targeting and assassinating General Soleimani—THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation.

“The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism.”

4.58am update: What we know so far…

Major-General Qassem Soleimani, widely seen as the second most powerful man in Iran, was killed following a US missile attack at Baghdad’s international airport.

Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias, also confirmed the deaths of Soleimani and Muhandis.

He said: “The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani,”

Sources from the PMF told Al Jazeera that the US rockets destroyed two vehicles carrying “high-profile guests”, who had arrived at the airport and were being escorted by a PMF official.

The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal, burning two vehicles and killing a total of seven people.