At the beginning of January, social media exploded with news stories, videos, and memes in response to the January 3rd airstrike in Iraq that killed one of Iran’s top military officials. As republicans and democrats in Congress began to divide over the airstrike, teenagers blew up the internet with tweets and videos, many claiming World War III is about to begin. But what’s actually happening? 

Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani was killed on January 3rd, 2020 by a drone strike carried out by the United States, hitting a car Solemani was riding in near the Baghdad airport. 

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said, “The strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans.” 

The attack was met with outrage by Iranian citizens and other government officials. In the United States, while there was agreement that Solemani was responsible for many American deaths, many people were in disagreement over if the strike was necessary. Iran vowed revenge. 

Then, on January 8th, Iran sent over a dozen missiles to a U.S. base north of Baghdad, claiming that if the United States retaliated, there would be “more painful and crushing responses.” 

Originally, President Trump said there were no deaths or injuries as a result of the strike. However, more recently it has been announced that 11 Americans are being treated for concussions. 

In a speech following the attack, President Trump announced that the United States does not want to engage in a war with Iran, shutting down the claims that that is a possibility and squashing the memes going around social media. He also announced that “the United States will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.  These powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior.”