Iran and the Assad regime in Damascus have sharply condemned the American airstrikes in eastern Syria. In a statement by the Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Saturday evening, the retaliatory strikes were described as a “military and terrorist attack by the American army on civilian targets” in the eastern Syrian region of Deir Essor.
Nasser Kanani, spokesman for the State Department in Tehran, called the presence of American troops in Syria “illegal” and a “violation of international law and Syria’s national sovereignty”. The Iranian “military advisors”, on the other hand, are in Syria on behalf of the government in Damascus. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the “brutal attacks” were a violation of the country’s territorial integrity, as were Israel’s regular attacks. Damascus will end the “American occupation”.
US President Joe Biden had previously made it clear that his country was not interested in an escalation. The United States “does not seek conflict with Iran,” he said Friday. But he reiterated that Tehran should know that his government would act forcefully “to protect our people.” That’s exactly what you did on Friday night.
900 American soldiers stationed in Syria
At least 19 people were killed in the airstrikes by the US military, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. As the UK-based organization announced on Saturday, there are 16 pro-Iranian fighters, most of them Syrians, and three soldiers from the Syrian government troops. According to the organization, the attacks were carried out, among other things, on an arms depot in Deir Essor.
Washington responded to a deadly drone attack on forces of the American-led military coalition in Syria and several rocket attacks with airstrikes on Thursday and Friday. According to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, “precision strikes” on positions were carried out by “Iranian Revolutionary Guards-allied groups” on Biden’s orders. The Pentagon said the drone was “of Iranian origin.”
An American working for a private security company was killed and six others injured in the drone attack on the Hassakeh military base on Thursday afternoon. The injured are five soldiers and another employee of a security company. The retaliatory strikes led to ten rocket attacks by pro-Iranian militias on a military base owned by the Americans and their allies on Friday evening. No one was injured inside the camp, but one of the rockets hit a house five kilometers away, injuring two women and two children, the American Central Command said.
900 American troops are stationed in Syria as part of a Washington-led coalition fighting remaining Islamic State (IS) fighters in the country.
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