Tensions in the Middle East are heating up. The United States has carried out airstrikes against facilities used by pro-Iranian groups in eastern Syria, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced. The measure was taken in response to twenty strikes carried out by these groups with drones and missiles against US military bases in Syria and Iraq over the past ten days.
“The American President (Joe Biden) ordered today’s action to make clear that the United States will not tolerate these types of attacks and will defend itself, its personnel and its interests,” Austin said in a tough statement was distributed late Thursday evening.
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Senior Pentagon officials said the facilities attacked were weapons and ammunition depots near the Syrian town of Abu Kamal on the border with Iraq. The attacks, using precision projectiles fired from F-16 fighter jets, occurred around 4:30 a.m. Friday in Syria (3:30 a.m. Spanish peninsular time).
These airstrikes are intended to send a strong signal to Iran to stop the anti-American activities of the groups it supports, but limited enough not to trigger an escalation of violence in the Middle East at a time when tensions are at an all-time high. bright red from the war between Israel and Hamas. “The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention or desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iran-backed attacks are unacceptable and must end,” he added.
The US base at al-Tanf in southern Syria was attacked with drones on October 23.Lolita Baldor (AP)
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The attacks on American positions, more than fourteen in Iraq and four in Syria, caused the death of an American contractor in Iraq from a heart attack and left 21 soldiers injured, all minor personnel. In addition, a U.S. warship, the Carney, intercepted a missile and drone launch in the Red Sea fired by Iran-aligned Houthi militias in Yemen. In this case, the Defense Ministry emphasized that the ship was not the target of the projectiles fired in a northerly direction, possibly towards Israel.
The United States believes these attacks were carried out in a coordinated manner by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and related pro-Iranian groups. The Pentagon estimates that Iran is behind the campaign, which began after Hamas caused more than 1,400 deaths in Israel on October 7 and Washington promised to give the country everything it needs to defeat the radical Palestinian militia . Biden himself issued a sharp warning to Iran this Wednesday and assured that his country would respond vigorously to any attack.
In a speech this Thursday to the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned that the United States “will not be spared from this fire” if the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip is not stopped. Washington maintains a contingent of 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq, both tasked with protecting local forces from a possible resurgence of the Islamic Army.
“Iran wants to hide its hand”
“Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not allow them,” promises the Pentagon chief. “If Iranian allies’ attacks on U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take additional steps to protect our own forces.”
Austin asserts that the “self-defense” airstrikes had very specific objectives and were carried out solely to “protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.” These actions “are completely independent of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas and do not represent a change in our position in this conflict,” emphasized the Defense Minister.
He emphasizes that the United States calls on all countries and non-governmental entities – militias – “not to take steps that could trigger an escalation into a larger conflict” in the Middle East.
Washington fears that its forces in the region could continue to face increasingly frequent and intense attacks as the conflict between Israel and Hamas drags on and the number of civilian casualties in Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip rises. To prevent such a strike, the deployment of a modern anti-aircraft system THAAD (Thermal High Altitude Defense System) and an unspecified number of Patriot systems were announced. These teams will be stationed in the Middle East, in locations that Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder declined to specify without giving further details, although he assured that “it will not be in Israel” where they are stationed become.
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