Iran has promised "severe revenge" on those responsible for the death of top military commander Qasem Soleimani.
Iran has promised vengeance after a US air strike in Baghdad killed Qassem Soleimani, Tehran's most prominent military commander and the architect of its growing influence in the Middle East.
Soleimani, a 62-year-old general who headed the overseas arm of the Revolutionary Guards, was regarded as the second most powerful figure after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The overnight attack, authorised by US President Donald Trump, was a major escalation in a "shadow war" in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and American allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.
A senior Trump administration official said the general had been planning imminent attacks on US personnel across the Middle East. Democratic critics said the order by the Republican president was reckless and that he had raised the risk of more violence in a dangerous region.
"Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel but we caught him in the act and terminated him," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
"We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war."
Trump said the United States was not seeking regime change in Iran, but that Tehran must end what he called its aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters.
A top US general cautioned that the plot by Soleimani could still happen despite his death. US officials said Washington was sending nearly 3,000 more troops to the Middle East, joining roughly 750 sent to Kuwait this week.
The attack, which also killed a top Iraqi militia commander and adviser to Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, divided Iraqi opinion.
Many condemned the attacks, seeing Soleimani as a hero for his role in defeating the Islamic State militant group. Others voiced approval, saying Soleimani and Muhandis had backed the use of force against unarmed anti-government protesters last year and established militias that demonstrators blame for many of Iraq's social and economic woes.
However, many Iraqis criticised Washington for killing the men on Iraqi soil and possibly plunging Iraq into another war.
In Baghdad, air strikes targeting a convoy carrying medics belonging to an Iran-backed militia near Taji stadium north of the city, Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella grouping of paramilitary groups said.
An Iraqi army source said six people were killed and three wounded. State TV reported that it was carried by the United States. There was no immediate confirmation from Washington.
There had already been a sharp increase in US-Iranian hostilities last week when pro-Iranian militia attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad following a deadly US air raid on the Kataib Hezbollah militia, founded by Muhandis.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said with the attack Washington had breached Iraq's sovereignty and violated a deal for keeping US troops there.
Two Iraqi security sources said the attack followed an intelligence operation in which inside sources recruited by the CIA revealed the timing of Soleimani's arrival in Baghdad and his convoy leaving the airport.
Khamenei said harsh revenge awaited the "criminals" who killed Soleimani and his death would redouble resistance against the United States and Israel. He called for three days of national mourning.
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US officials said Soleimani was killed in a drone strike. Iran said he died in an attack by US helicopters.
Israel put its army on high alert and US allies in Europe including Britain, France and Germany voiced concerns. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for "maximum restraint".
The US embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens to leave Iraq immediately, and dozens of US citizens working for foreign oil companies in the southern city of Basra left. The evacuations would not affect output and exports, Iraqi officials said.
Oil prices jumped more than $US3 ($A4.3) a barrel over concern about disruption to Middle East supplies.
SOURCE AAP
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