The United States launched attacks on Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Syria on Friday, first response strikes for the killing of three American soldiers last weekend in JordanAn official of the Ministry of Defense said this.
US military forces struck more than 85 targets, hitting facilities such as command and control centers and drone storage facilities. According to US Central Command.
Military operation a a significant escalation in Washington’s attempt to contain the growing threat from Groups supported by Iran In the Middle East – one step fraught with risk at home and abroadLike President Joe Biden, he is trying to prevent it Israel-Hamas war from becoming a wider conflict as he works to secure his re-election.
The Biden administration announced that the United States would launch military operations after Iran-backed militants attacked a remote US base in Jordan that injured more than 40 people.
Syrian state television reported the number of dead and wounded as a result of the strikes, but did not reveal the exact number of casualties.
Before the strikes, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had promised a “multiple response,” and officials told NBC News that Biden was settling on a plan that was expected to emerge within days, possibly weeks. US officials said that American forces are expected to hit targets in various countries outside of Iran.
Even as Biden and his deputies vowed to retaliate, they added the caveat that Washington is not seeking war with Iran or a wider conflict in the region. Their calibrated statements indicated that retaliatory strikes were unlikely to hit targets inside Iran.
“We will continue to work to prevent a broader conflict in the region, but we will take all necessary measures to defend the United States, our interests and our people,” Austin told reporters at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday.
Iran has denied involvement in the drone attack and said it does not want a direct confrontation with the United States.
After previous attacks by Tehran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria that injured but did not kill some American soldiers, Biden ordered airstrikes targeting the militants’ weapons depots and other facilities. However, after the attack of Hamas on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent attack of Israel on the Gaza Strip, the speed of rocket and drone attacks increased sharply.
According to the Pentagon, there have been more than 160 attacks on US forces by Iran-backed groups since October 7.
Meanwhile, Houthi forces in Yemen have attacked merchant ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with drones and missiles, vowing to continue until Israel ends its military campaign in Gaza.
US Navy warships have shot down dozens of Houthi drones and missiles, but some have hit commercial ships, prompting several major shipping companies to divert cargo to other, longer routes. In recent weeks, the US military has also struck Houthi forces in Yemen, hitting firing positions and command centers.
It is unclear whether the Biden administration will choose to go after Iranian ships suspected of helping the Houthis find targets with electronic intelligence.
The last time the US military targeted an Iranian ship was in 1988, when the Navy launched retaliatory strikes in the Persian Gulf after an American ship hit a mine planted by Iran.
Although Tehran denied its direct involvement in the Jordan incident, it warned that it would respond to any threats from the United States.
“We will not start any war, but if someone tries to insult us, they will get a strong response,” Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said in a televised speech on Friday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Hossein Salami said on Wednesday: “Threats are coming from American officials, we tell them that they have already tested us and now we know each other, no threat will go unanswered.”