US begins bombing Iran-linked sites in Syria and Iraq after an incident in Jordan

Following a horrific incident in Jordan that claimed the lives of three US soldiers and wounded over forty more, the US military stated on Friday that it has carried out retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on over 85 sites connected to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it supports.

The attacks are thought to be only the start of President Joe Biden’s administration’s multi-tiered retaliation to the assault last weekend carried out by terrorists with Iranian support.

The US attacks are expected to raise concerns about Middle East tensions rising amid the growing aftermath of Israel’s more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza, even if they did not target any facilities within Iran.

According to a statement from the US military, the attacks targeted logistical and munition supply chain sites, as well as command and control centers, rocket, missile, and drone storage facilities.

The military stated that the attacks, which included the use of long-range B-1 bombers that were flown from the United States, struck more than 85 targets spread over seven locations—four in Syria and three in Iraq.

They went after the Quds Force, the IRGC’s paramilitary and international spy branch that greatly impacts its affiliated militias across the Middle East, from Yemen to Syria and Lebanon to Iraq.

Although it was unclear if any militants were killed, US Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the head of the Joint Staff, said that it seemed the attacks were effective and that they caused significant secondary explosions when the bombs struck insurgent weapons.

However, Sims went on, “We knew that there would probably be casualties among those in the facilities when we launched the strikes.”

On Friday, the Syrian state media said that several people had been injured and killed as a consequence of “American aggression” in locations in the country’s desert regions and along the border with Iraq.

MORE IS TO COME
The October outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict saw the first fatal assault on US forces, which occurred in Jordan.

US sources informed Reuters that the US has determined that Iran manufactured the drone that killed the three troops and injured over forty more.

“We started responding today. It will go on at the times and locations of our choice,” a statement from Biden said.

Biden and top Pentagon officials had visited the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware earlier on Friday to witness the repatriation of the three soldiers’ corpses.

Biden has ordered further action against the IRGC and others connected to it, according to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Austin said, “This is the beginning of our response.”

However, despite growing Republican pressure on Biden to strike directly at Iran, the Pentagon has said that it does not desire a conflict with Iran and does not think Tehran wants one either.

“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.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said before to Friday’s retaliatory attacks that his country would not start a war but would “respond strongly” to anybody who attempted to intimidate it.

In Syria, where the US has 900 soldiers, and Iraq, where the US has around 2,500 troops, Iranian advisors support armed groups. A series of devastating Israeli attacks has forced the IRGC to reduce the number of senior officials it has stationed in Syria.

According to Israeli counts, since the Hamas assault in Israel that murdered 1,200 people and ignited the crisis on October 7, US forces have been targeted more than 160 times in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.

According to them, the goal of the Houthi militants in Yemen is to help the Palestinian people against Israel, which is why they have been launching missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, since October 7, Israeli assaults on Gaza have resulted in at least 26,422 Palestinian deaths and 65,087 injuries.

IRAQI WORRIES
The attacks may make the US military’s stay in Iraq even more difficult.

The Iraqi military confirmed that the attacks occurred near the country’s border and issued a warning that they may cause unrest in the area.

Iraqi military spokesperson Yahya Rasool stated in a statement that “these airstrikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences.”

In order to determine a timeline for a phased troop withdrawal and the dissolution of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, Washington and Baghdad have decided to form a committee to begin negotiations on the future of the US-led military coalition in Iraq.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for national security at the White House, said that the Iraqi government was informed in advance of the operations.

The US holds Iraq’s covert Kataib Hezbollah responsible for the assault on Jordan; the group said on Tuesday that it would stop attacking US personnel.

However, Nujaba, an additional Iraqi militia sponsored by Iran, said that it will keep attacking US soldiers in the area until the Gaza War is over and US forces leave Iraq.