Did Iran try to avoid US casualties?published at 19:49 GMT 8 January 2020
US and European government sources told Reuters news agency, external that they believed the Iranians had deliberately sought to minimise casualties and avoid hitting US facilities in order to prevent the crisis escalating out of control, while still signalling their resolve.
CNN journalist Jake Tapper quoted a Pentagon official as saying that Iran "deliberately chose targets that would not result in loss of life".
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The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus said: “Whether this was by design, or just due to shortcomings with the manufacture and accuracy of their missiles, as yet remains unclear.”
“However, launching long range missiles against US bases is a risky way of making a point.”
He added: “Looking at the initial civilian satellite pictures of the impacts of the Iranian missiles at Al Asad air base, they appear to have destroyed several structures, so the lack of casualties could be as much by luck rather than design.”