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AP Explains: Rising Iran, US Tension After General's Killing

Associated Press

   The U.S. airstrike that killed a prominent Iranian general in Baghdad
   raises tensions even higher between Tehran and Washington, after months
   of trading attacks and threats across the wider Middle East.

   How Iran will respond remains in question as well, though its supreme
   leader warned that a "harsh retaliation is waiting" for those who
   killed Revolutionary Guard Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani early Friday
   morning. That could include anything, from challenging U.S. warships in
   the Persian Gulf, firing ballistic missiles or deploying the
   asymmetrical proxy forces Iran has cultivated to cover for its
   long-sanctioned conventional forces.

   Soleimani's death is the latest in a series of escalating incidents
   traces back to President Donald Trump's decision in 2018 to
   unilaterally withdraw America from Iran's nuclear deal with world
   powers. However, overall enmity between Iran and the U.S. date back to
   its 1979 Islamic Revolution, as well as a 1953 U.S.-backed coup in
   Tehran that cemented the power of its ruling shah over an elected prime
   minister.

   Here's where things stand now:

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