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Forbes
Forbes
3 Feb 2024


The U.S. responded to Iran-linked militants’ airstrikes in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers with its own airstrikes against dozens of Iran-linked targets Friday, reportedly killing dozens as tensions across the Middle East continue to grow.

Iraq US Airstrikes

Members of Iraqi Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces clean the rubble after a U.S. airstrike in ... [+] al-Qaim, Iraq, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. The U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Friday that the U.S. forces conducted airstrikes on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and affiliated militia groups. (AP Photo/Mobilization media office)

Associated Press

The U.S. on Friday struck more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Corps Quds Force and other affiliated militia groups, according to U.S. Central Command—though President Joe Biden framed the strikes as just the beginning, claiming in a statement that the U.S. response would “continue at times and places of our choosing.”

The targets included, among other things, “command and control operations centers” of militia groups and “IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” according to Central Command.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a state force said to include Iran-backed factions, said the strikes killed 16 of its members, with the Iraqi government reportedly saying the 16 killed included civilians.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors attacks in Syria, said there were 23 deaths of Iran-backed fighters in the country—the Syrian defense ministry claimed that civilians were killed.

U.S. officials said the full picture was still emerging Saturday, telling the New York Times they were confident the strikes hit “exactly what they were meant to hit,” though assessments were ongoing.

In a Friday press call, John Kirby of the National Security Council said the number of casualties was not immediately known, but that the attacks were designed to avoid civilian casualties—the Department of Defense on Saturday did not provide specifics on the casualties of the strike.

Officials in Iran, Iraq and Syria all condemned the attacks, alleging the U.S. was only further inflaming tensions across the Middle East, though spokesman Hussein al-Mosawi of the Iran-backed militia group in Iraq Harakat al-Nujaba appeared to try to tamp down the conflict in an interview with the Associated Press, saying the group does not want “to escalate or widen regional tensions.”

In the wake of the strikes, U.S. officials say they have sought to contain any potential regional fallout while also taking a tough posture against attacks targeting U.S. troops—Biden said the U.S. “does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world” but that the strikes send a message that “if you harm an American, we will respond.”

In a statement, the Syrian foreign ministry said the attacks serve to “fuel the conflict in the Middle East.” The Iraqi foreign ministry planned to summon the U.S. charge d’affaires to lodge a formal protest, saying in a statement the country refuses to become an arena for “settling scores” between other countries. Iran, which has denied involvement in the Jordan attack, also condemned the U.S. strikes, with foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani reportedly claiming the attack was a “strategic mistake” by the U.S. that could result in “escalation and instability in the region.”

Friday’s strikes came after Biden met with the families of those killed in Jordan for a dignified transfer. The U.S. retaliation was much anticipated—Biden himself had hinted he knew how the U.S. would respond earlier this week. But he also noted that he hoped to avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East, where tensions have continued to grow since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel, the resulting war and other military escalations, including ongoing conflict in the Red Sea, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked commercial trade vessels. While Iran has denied involvement in the attack that killed U.S. soldiers in Jordan, the U.S. has pinned the blame on the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group that includes the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah. Biden has said he holds Iran responsible, “in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.”