Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the United States launching strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria, the International Court of Justice accepting jurisdiction over Ukraine’s genocide case, and French farmers unions suspending nationwide protests.
“We Will Respond.”
U.S. forces carried out the first round of strikes against more than 85 Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday in retaliation for a lethal drone strike against a U.S. base in Jordan on Jan. 28. The strikes centered on facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliated militias, including supply chain operations, a weapons warehouse, and a command-and-control center, according to U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. Three of the facilities were located in Iraq, and four were based in Syria. At this time, the White House declined to comment on if any militants were killed or wounded in the operation, though Syrian state media said “American aggression” resulted in multiple casualties.
“These responses began tonight, but they’re not gonna end tonight,” Kirby said.
Washington accused the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias, of carrying out the attack on the U.S. base, known as Tower 22, which killed three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers and injured at least 41 other U.S. service members. Tehran denied involvement in the strike, saying it does not give orders to the “regional resistance factions” that it is known to arm, train, and support; however, unnamed U.S. officials have said the drone used is believed to have been manufactured in Iran and is similar to those that Tehran sends to Russia for its war against Ukraine.
“We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. “But to all those who seek to do us harm: We will respond.”
The White House did not provide an exact timeline for the mission’s next phases, but U.S. officials told CBS on Thursday that a series of strikes will occur over a span of a few days, depending on weather conditions. Washington said it prefers to conduct the strikes with better visibility to avoid inadvertently hitting civilians. “We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our interests, and our people, and we will respond when we choose, where we choose, and how we choose,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
There have been no new attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East since the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militant group, which is part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, announced on Wednesday that it was suspending operations against U.S. forces. Iranian proxies have launched more than 160 assaults on U.S. troops since October 2023. Yet Biden is seemingly reluctant to attack Iran directly, saying he wishes to avoid a wider war in the region.
“There are ways to manage this so it doesn’t spiral out of control, and that’s been our focus throughout,” Austin added on Thursday.
Washington’s retaliatory attack follows Iranian semiofficial state media reporting that an Israeli strike killed an IRGC military advisor and two other members near Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Friday. Israel said it does not comment on foreign news allegations, but Syria’s state news agency reported that the strikes, launched from Israel’s Golan Heights region, only caused material damage, not any casualties.
Friday’s strike is the latest suspected Israeli attack on IRGC targets in recent weeks. On Jan. 20, Israeli forces reportedly killed at least four IRGC members near Damascus, including the No. 2 intelligence official for the expeditionary Quds Force in Syria and his deputy. Israel’s military is thought to have killed more than half a dozen IRGC members since December 2023.
In response to growing attacks, the IRGC announced that it would start reducing deployments of senior leaders to Syria, Reuters reported on Thursday. Instead, Tehran said it would rely more heavily on allied Shiite militias in the area to secure its influence. Iranian-backed proxies—such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Houthis—continue to actively target Israel and its allies across the Middle East.
Today’s Most Read
- How China Is Leveraging the Israel-Hamas War by Christina Lu
- The West Did Not Invent Decoupling—China Did by Agathe Demarais
- The Habsburg Solution for Viktor Orban by Caroline de Gruyter
What We’re Following
Ukraine’s legal request. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Friday that it has jurisdiction over a case regarding whether Ukraine violated the 1948 Genocide Convention. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of committing genocide against the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of his justification for launching his full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kyiv filed a case to the United Nations’ highest court mere days after Russia invaded, asking the ICJ to declare that Ukraine had not committed genocide, as Moscow claimed, as well as to rule on whether Russia had itself violated the 1948 Genocide Convention by invading Ukraine.
Russia has asked the court to throw out the case, saying there is no ongoing dispute between the two nations over the treaty’s provisions and that the ICJ therefore should not have jurisdiction.
The justices said on Friday that the court has jurisdiction over the part of the case regarding whether Ukraine committed genocide and that it will thus issue a determination on that question. However, it rejected Ukraine’s request that the court rule on whether Moscow lied about the allegations or if Russia violated the convention by invading Ukraine. The court will likely take years to issue a final decision. ICJ rulings are legally binding but require the U.N. Security Council to enforce.
Friday’s ruling is the court’s second decision this week regarding ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. On Wednesday, it said Moscow violated aspects of terrorism and anti-discrimination treaties when it invaded Ukraine in 2014. The ICJ did not order the Kremlin to pay Kyiv reparations, though, and it did not rule on accusations that Russia funded fighters linked to the targeting of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which crashed over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people aboard.
Lowering the banner. Two of France’s largest farmers unions announced on Thursday that they will suspend protests and lift blockades nationwide following Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announcing new reform measures earlier that day.
Among the “tangible progress” the unions said was made, Attal announced $162 million in aid to livestock farmers and a decrease in taxes on farms being transferred from older generations to younger ones. He also promised to ban fruit and vegetable imports coming from outside the European Union that were treated with an EU-banned insecticide and reaffirmed Paris’s opposition to signing a free-trade deal with South America’s Mercosur trade group. France’s agriculture minister also announced a $2.16 billion package to provide loans for people who are setting up as farmers.
Farmers across Europe have denounced high prices, poor industry protections, and unfair foreign competition for weeks. Chaos peaked on Thursday when farmer convoys pelted the European Parliament building in Brussels with eggs and beer bottles. Although the French famers unions seem to be satisfied for now with the measures they have secured from their government, farmers in other European countries continue to protest. On Friday, farmers blocked the Dutch-Belgian border and occupied roads in Greece, and a Polish union announced plans to shut border crossings with Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Deadly blast in Kenya. A gas explosion at an illegal refilling depot in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, killed at least three people, including a child, and wounded around 280 others late Thursday. Local investigators believe a truck carrying liquid petroleum gas cylinders exploded, and the ensuing fire and debris spread across a nearby neighborhood. According to a government spokesperson, Nairobi plans to provide two months’ worth of rent to survivors whose homes were destroyed in the blast. Thursday’s death toll is expected to rise, and search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
The facility was operating in a residential area despite the owner being found guilty in May 2023 of running an unauthorized depot, suggesting that bribes may have been used to keep the business open. Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority said it had rejected three of the building’s construction permit applications, arguing that they failed to meet safety standards and noting that the building was in a highly populated area.
What in the World?
The United Kingdom’s top diplomat said on Thursday that Britain could do what before the war between Israel and Hamas is over?
A. Recognize a Palestinian state
B. Cut off aid to Israel
C. Present a plan for a one-state solution
D. Sanction members of Israel’s government
Odds and Ends
India isn’t taking any chances when it comes to Chinese espionage. So when a pigeon with two rings tied to its legs carrying suspected Chinese words flew to Mumbai in May 2023, Indian police jumped to an extreme conclusion: The bird was spying for the Chinese Communist Party. However, following eight months in detention, state police cleared the feathered suspect of any wrongdoing after learning it was an escaped open-water racing pigeon from Taiwan, setting it free on Tuesday.
And the Answer Is…
A. Recognize a Palestinian state
Recognizing a Palestinian state—which Washington is reportedly considering as well—before negotiations to end the war are concluded could be a way to pressure Israel into winding down hostilities, FP’s Emma Ashford and Matt Kroenig write in It’s Debatable.
To take the rest of FP’s weekly international news quiz, click here, or sign up to be alerted when a new one is published.