‘Our Response Began Today’: US Conducts Retaliatory Strikes Against Iran-linked Groups in Syria, Iraq

The US military struck Iranian forces and Tehran-backed militia groups in both Iraq and Syria on Friday as a retaliation for the drone attack that killed three American soldiers at a base in Jordan.

The US has blamed Iran-backed forces for the attack but did not directly strike its rival. Washington seeks to deter future attacks and wants to avoid an all-out war with Tehran. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said that at least 13 pro-Iran fighters were killed in the attack. “At least 13 pro-Iran fighters have been killed,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

“Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” he added.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the strikes targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force as well as “affiliated militia groups”. The US targeted and struck “more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from the United States”.

“The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions,” CENTCOM said, adding that the targets included command and control and intelligence centres as well as rocket, missile and drone storage facilities belonging to militia groups and Iranian forces “who facilitated attacks against US and coalition forces.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists that the strikes lasted about 30 minutes, though they involved a lengthy trip for the B-1 bombers that took part after flying from the United States.

He said the Defense Department is still assessing damage from the strikes — which hit dozens of targets at seven separate facilities — but that the United States believes the raids were successful, and made clear that more would follow.

Violation of Sovereignty

Iraq condemned the latest military action and said the actions were a violation of its sovereignty. But John Kirby said the US “did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes” but did not comment on how Iraq responded to that information.

“The American air strikes in Al-Qaim and the Iraqi border areas are a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and an undermining of the government’s efforts,” Major General Yahya Rasoul, the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces said in a statement.

Dignified Return

Biden — who had vowed to strike back against those responsible for the drone attack in Jordan — earlier Friday attended a solemn military ritual at a Delaware air base for the return of the three dead soldiers.

The secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown, also attended what is known as a “dignified transfer” — their presence highlighting the importance, as well as relative rarity, of returning dead service members in the wake of the US exit from Afghanistan in 2021.

The three soldiers killed Sunday were the first US military deaths from hostile fire in the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas surprise attack on Israel that sparked a devastating Israeli assault on Gaza, which has stoked tensions and violence in the region and dragged it ever closer to an all-out conflict.

US and coalition troops have been attacked more than 165 times in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since mid-October with weapons including drones, rockets and short-range ballistic missiles.

Dozens of American personnel were wounded in previous attacks, many of which have been claimed by a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that opposes US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict and wants American troops out of the region.

(with inputs from AFP)