The United States government stated that the air strikes carried out this Friday (2) against more than 80 Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria and Iraq were “successful” and lasted around 30 minutes.
Earlier, President Joe Biden said the American response “will continue at times and places of our choosing.”
The American air raid carried out this Friday was in retaliation for the drone attack that occurred on Sunday (28) in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers, and which was attributed by the Democratic government to a terrorist group supported by Iran in Iraq: the Islamic Resistance.
According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, the American attacks involved aircraft, including B-1 bombers sent from the United States, carrying more than 125 precision-guided munitions. Kirby reaffirmed what Biden said, saying “there will be additional responses that we take.” However, he made it clear that the US is “not looking for a war with Iran” at this time, indicating that the next attacks could be specific and outside the Iranian border.
In turn, the Iraqi military condemned the US airstrikes, stating that they hit the country's border areas, and warned that the American incursion could provoke new “instability”.
For the Iraqis, this Friday's American attacks constituted “a violation of the country's sovereignty” and “represent a threat that could lead Iraq and the region to dire consequences.”
Blinken travels to the Middle East again this Sunday
It is in this context of tension and negotiations for the release of Israeli and foreign hostages that the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is expected to begin this Sunday (4) his fifth trip to the Middle East since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists. .
The State Department said in a statement this Friday that the head of US diplomacy will have commitments until February 8 in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank.
The purpose of the trip is to continue diplomatic efforts to free hostages held by Hamas during a future ceasefire, as well as increase humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.
In early January, Blinken spent a week in Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Bahrain and Egypt to try to come up with an action plan to end the war sparked by Hamas terrorist attacks. against Israel on October 7th.
The new trip comes after Israeli, American and Egyptian intelligence chiefs, as well as the Qatari prime minister, met in Paris for two days last Monday (29) and reached a proposed agreement on a new truce and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
The draft agreement was then sent to the Hamas leadership and, according to a statement made in Washington on Thursday (1st) by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari, the Islamic group signaled acceptance.
However, also this Friday (2), the head of Hamas's political office, Ismail Haniyeh, demanded a total stop of fighting in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of the hostages and said that Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that also operates in Gaza, charges the same.
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