U.S. Carries out Retaliatory Strikes in Iraq and Syria

The United States carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Friday 2 Feb in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, the U.S. military said, after a deadly attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops and injured some 40 others. 

The strikes are believed to be just the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden’s administration to the attack last weekend carried out by Iran-backed militants. 

While the U.S. strikes did not target any locations inside Iran, they are likely to increase concern about tensions escalating in the Middle East amid a widening fallout from Israel’s more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

The U.S. military said in a statement that the strikes hit targets including command and control centers, rockets, missiles and drone storage facilities, as well as logistics and munition supply chain facilities.

Earlier on Friday, Biden and Pentagon leaders attended the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as the remains of the three American soldiers killed in the Jordan attack were returned. The Jordan attack was the first deadly strike against U.S. troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Biden had directed additional action against the IRGC and those linked to it. “This is the start of our response,” Austin said.

But the Pentagon has said it does not want war with Iran and does not believe Tehran wants war either, even as Republican pressure has increased on Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran. “We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces,” Austin said.

Baghdad and Washington have agreed to set up a committee to start talks on the future of the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq with the aim of setting a timetable for a phased withdrawal of troops and the end of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.

Iraq’s shadowy Kataib Hezbollah, which is blamed for the Jordan attack, said on Tuesday it would pause attacks on U.S. forces. But another Iran-backed Iraqi group, Nujaba, said it would continue launching attacks on U.S. forces in the region until the Gaza war ends and U.S. forces exit Iraq.

US retaliatory attack to Jordan’s attack; it is the start; Pentagon wants no war but will not tolerate attacks on American forces; one Iraqi group, to pause attacks on US and another group, to continue