United States forces are facing increasing threats, raising fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could spread across the region.
On Thursday, drones and missiles were fired at US troop bases in Iraq. The attacks helped put Washington on heightened alert about the activities of Iranian-backed armed groups following similar incidents in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, while a US warship intercepted missiles that may have been headed for Israel.
President Joe Biden has sent naval forces to the Middle East in the past two weeks, including two aircraft carriers, more warships and about 2,000 Marines.
There has been a spike in attacks on U.S. forces since the conflict in Israel erupted on Oct. 7, when Palestinian fighters from Hamas, the armed group that rules Gaza, attacked southern Israel.
Earlier this week, US forces foiled several drone attacks on troops.
On Wednesday, a drone hit US forces in Syria, causing minor injuries, and another was shot down.
A civilian contractor died of cardiac arrest in a false alarm at Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq.
But on Thursday drones and missiles targeted the base, which houses US and other international forces in western Iraq. Multiple explosions were heard inside the base.
Rockets also hit a US military base near Baghdad’s international airport, Iraqi police said, without giving further details.
“While I will not predict possible responses to these attacks, I will say that we will take all necessary measures to defend U.S. and coalition forces against any threat,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters .
“If there is a response, it will be at a time of our choosing,” Ryder said.
Drones intercepted
A U.S. Navy warship traveling near Yemen intercepted three missiles over the northern Red Sea and several drones that Ryder said were fired by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. The official said it appeared the projectiles were possibly headed toward Israel.
“We cannot say with certainty what these missiles and drones were aimed at, but they were fired from Yemen north along the Red Sea, possibly toward targets in Israel,” the Pentagon spokesman told reporters in a news conference.
Ryder claimed he saw no connection between the increase in attacks and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Even at this point, the information we have shows no direct connection to the October 7 Hamas attacks,” he said.
On Wednesday, Iran-aligned groups in Iraq announced they had formed a “joint operations room” to help Hamas in its war effort.
Two officials from Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue, confirmed the attacks on the two U.S. bases on Wednesday.
They said the groups were on alert and ready to join the broader fight against Israel, but that Iran had not yet given them permission to open a new front.
Leaders of some factions are currently in Lebanon and Syria in case they receive orders to move forward, one of the officials told the AP.
“Terrible brutality”
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militants, has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the two drone strikes in Iraq and saying it heralds “further operations” against the “American occupation.”
The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 more in neighboring Syria to advise and support local forces in the fight against the armed group ISIL (ISIS), which captured vast areas in both countries in 2014.
In recent years, Iranian-backed militants have regularly fired rockets at U.S. forces and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Such attacks had declined because of the ceasefire in place since last year, and Iraq had seen a period of relative calm.
But the war in Gaza has fueled tensions again. The country’s supreme Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, condemned Israel last week and called on the world to stand up against “terrible brutality” in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful armed faction with close ties to Iran, accused the US of helping Israel “kill innocent people” and said it should leave Iraq.
Spillover feared
The rising tension has sparked warnings from officials about the risk of the conflict spreading across the region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Thursday of the possibility of a regional crisis, saying efforts to blame Iran would only add fuel to the fire.
On the same day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the risk of regional spillover of the Israel-Hamas war as “real.”
Von der Leyen underscored the need to tighten sanctions against Iran, which she said supplies Hamas, and also said dialogue between Israel and its neighbors must continue.
“We have seen Arab streets across the region fill with anger. So the risk of regional spillover is real,” she said.
“Iran, the patron of Hamas, only wants to fan the flames of chaos. Russia, Iran’s war customer, is watching closely. “Russia and Hamas are the same,” said the EU chief.
Von der Leyen condemned the “evil role that Iran plays in the background,” adding that Iran “without question” supplies 93 percent of the weapons used by Hamas.
She said it was critical to continue to sanction Iran, as well as to expand sanctions and crack down on sanctions evasion.
“There is no question that we need to step up,” she said.
Earlier this week, the United Nations Middle East peace envoy warned the Security Council that the threat of an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas was “very real and extremely dangerous.”
“I fear that we are on the edge of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the course of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if not the entire Middle East,” said Tor Wennesland, addressing the 15-member panel via video turned from Doha, Qatar.