US forces carried out air strikes on Thursday night on two locations in eastern Syria that Washington says are affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the US Department of Defense, the attacks are in retaliation for a series of drone and missile attacks on US bases and troops in the region since the beginning of last week. This is reported by the AP news agency.
Since October 17, there have been at least 12 attacks on US bases and personnel in Iraq and four in Syria, according to the Pentagon. In two of those attacks, with drones on Al-Asad air base in Iraq and Al-Tanf base in Syria, 21 American soldiers were slightly injured, according to Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder.
“These precision self-defense strikes are in response to a series of sustained and largely unsuccessful attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria carried out by Iranian-backed militias beginning on October 17,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
The attacks were ordered by President Joe Biden, the Pentagon said. Biden earlier said at a news conference that he has warned Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against attacks on US troops. “My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continue to turn against those forces, we will respond, and he must be prepared.” Biden emphasized that the action is separate from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Wider war
The Biden administration has not accused Iran of playing a direct role in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and has said it appears Tehran had no advance knowledge. However, Iran has long supported Hamas and the US has expressed concerns that Iran and its allies could turn the conflict into a broader war.
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According to Austin, the US is not pursuing a broader conflict. But, he stated, if Iranian proxy groups continue, the US will not hesitate to take additional action to protect its forces.