Dhe United States began retaliatory strikes on Friday evening for last weekend's deadly drone attack in Jordan. According to the White House, the attacks lasted around thirty minutes and hit seven locations in Iraq and Syria. These are therefore connected to the Quds Force, the elite force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard responsible for foreign operations, and militias loyal to them.
According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Washington expects “successful attacks.” He said it was not known how many people were killed or wounded. American Central Command said it had carried out attacks on more than eighty targets, including command centers, intelligence bases and weapons depots. Long-range Rockwell B-1 bombers that took off from the United States were used. Three American soldiers and more than forty were injured in the attack by an unmanned drone on the “Tower 22” outpost in Jordan last Sunday night.
Biden has “ordered additional attacks”
With the retaliatory strike on Friday evening, President Joe Biden is increasing the intensity of the American response to missile and drone attacks by militias in the region. So far, the United States has limited its efforts to proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, but has not targeted members of the Iranian military. Biden said in the evening that the attacks would continue “at a time and place of our choosing.”
The bodies of the three killed soldiers were brought back to the United States on Friday. Biden said he spoke to the families of the “brave soldiers”; The victims were a 46-year-old man and two women, 23 and 24 years old, all members of a reserve unit in Georgia. Biden emphasized again that they are not seeking a conflict in the Middle East, “but everyone who wants us to do harm should know: If you do something to an American, we will react.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made similar comments. The attacks are “the beginning of our response.” Biden ordered “additional strikes to hold Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on American and allied forces.” The Pentagon said it had made the attacks dependent on the weather and wanted to avoid “unnecessary casualties”. The “best opportunity” presented itself on Friday because of the weather conditions. Washington wanted to ensure that “only the right targets” were hit.
No attacks on Iran planned
According to Iraqi officials and the mayor of the city of Al-Qaim, the American strikes hit facilities of the pro-Iranian militia al-Hashd ash-Sha'bi near the Iran-Syria border. The United States blames the militia for attacks on American military in Iraq and Syria. A spokesman for the Iranian military spoke on Friday evening of a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty” as a result of the attacks. Efforts are being made to ensure stability in the region. The attacks could have “undesirable consequences” and be “bad” for security in Iraq. According to the mayor of Al-Qaim city, three buildings used as weapons depots were hit.
John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Washington had informed the Iraqi government of the impending attacks. However, there has been no direct or indirect contact with Iran since the deadly drone attack. A senior government official told CNN there was still no plan to attack targets in Iran. Such a step meant a decisive escalation of the situation in the region. However, President Biden and Austin emphasized again on Friday evening that there was no interest in this.
House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the Biden administration's late response. They waited a week and “told the world, including Iran, what our response would be.” This prevents a “decisive end to the series of attacks” that the United States has experienced over the past few months. According to the Defense Department, there have been more than 160 attacks by militias loyal to Iran on American military personnel in the region since Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel in early October. However, the United States has so far reacted cautiously in order to avoid a worsening of the situation in the region. The hawks in the Republican Party are calling on President Biden to strike in Iran itself to send a signal after the deaths of American soldiers.
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