NewsRescue
In reaction to a deadly attack on American forces in Jordan, the US will launch a series of strikes on “Iranian personnel and facilities” in Iraq and Syria, according to CBS News, which cited anonymous officials. Tehran has warned to retaliate if its citizens or interests are harmed.
The authorities did not specify when the strikes would begin, but said US forces would most likely wait for favourable weather to maximise accuracy. Sources told CBS that the strikes will last many days, while NBC News said that the campaign may last “weeks.”
American forces frequently engage in tit-for-tat bombings with Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria, although the admission that the coming attacks could last for several weeks marks a significant escalation in the long-running conflict. The news came after one of these groups killed three American troops and wounded dozens more in a drone attack on a US outpost in Jordan on Sunday. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he had decided how to respond to the strike, without revealing further information.
Following Biden’s declaration, Kataib Hezbollah, Iraq’s most powerful militia organisation, stated that it will cease “military and security operations against the occupation forces [US troops] – in order to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government.” The Biden administration thought that the Jordan attack was carried out by the Islamic Resistance, an umbrella organisation of militias that includes Kataib Hezbollah, though none of these factions have claimed responsibility.
By the time Biden made his statement, the Islamic Resistance had attacked US outposts in the Middle East over 150 times since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in October, in a campaign geared at hurting Israel’s most visible ally.
Biden also told reporters that he holds Iran responsible for the three US troop deaths, “in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.”
While Iran arms and trains numerous Islamic Resistance groups in Iraq and Syria, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran insisted on Monday that these fighters “do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Iran’s UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, warned the US on Tuesday that “the Islamic Republic will decisively respond to any attack on the country, its interests, and nationals under any pretext.”
US military in the Middle East face potential combat on numerous fronts. For nearly two weeks, American ships and bombers have engaged in missile strikes on Yemeni Houthi terrorists in an attempt to break the Houthi embargo on “Israel-linked” shipping in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, US Air Force personnel in Iraq have been ordered to be on standby in case of “on-ground US involvement in the Israel-Hamas war,” according to a Pentagon memo obtained by The Intercept on Tuesday.