Joe Biden had promised to “respond” after the death of three American soldiers in Jordan, struck by a drone attack.
This was not long in coming.
As their remains were returned to American soil, the United States carried out retaliatory strikes targeting elite Iranian forces and pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Syria.
“The airstrikes involved more than 125 precision munitions,” the US Middle East Command (Centcom) said in a statement, specifying that they targeted command and intelligence centers, as well as infrastructure. storage of drones and missiles belonging to militias and Iranian forces “which enabled attacks against American and coalition forces”.
These retaliatory strikes “will continue,” warned Joe Biden.
CENTCOM Statement on US Strikes in Iraq and Syria
At 4:00 pm (EST) Feb.
02, US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.
US military forces… pic.twitter.com/HeLMFDx9zY
— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 2, 2024
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) indicated that “at least 18 pro-Iranian fighters were killed” in eastern Syria, including five in Deir Ezzor, reassessing its initial toll of 13 dead.
Iraq criticized this Friday evening for a “violation of its sovereignty”.
The bombings targeted pro-Iran armed groups in western Iraq, particularly in the Al-Qaim sector located on the border with neighboring Syria, two Iraqi security sources said.
“An HQ of the armed factions in the Al-Qaïm area was targeted, it is a warehouse of light weapons according to preliminary information,” said an official at the Ministry of the Interior speaking under the cover of anonymity.
A second strike, in the Al-Akachat region, further south and still close to the border, targeted a command center for the operations of Hachd al-Chaabi, a coalition of former paramilitaries bringing together these pro-Iran factions, 'after this manager.
A Hachd al-Chaabi official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed these two bombings, assuring that the Al-Akachat strike caused “injured people”.
Quds force targeted
The US Middle East Military Command (Centcom) confirmed that it had carried out “airstrikes in Iraq and Syria”, claiming to have targeted pro-Iran groups and personnel from the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the Guardians of the Iranian revolution.
In its press release, Centcom ensures that the airstrikes targeted more than 85 sites, including command and intelligence centers, as well as drone and missile storage infrastructure.
Washington had committed to carrying out these retaliatory strikes after the drone attack which killed three soldiers at the end of January on a base in the middle of the Jordanian desert near the border with Syria.
Since mid-October, more than 165 drone strikes and rocket attacks have targeted American soldiers deployed with an international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria.
“I know that nothing anyone can say or do can ease your pain, I've been there myself.
(…) I hold you in my prayers and in my heart,” the American president said earlier in the day, on the tarmac of the Dover military base, where the bodies of American soldiers were repatriated.
The Democrat, campaigning for a second term, faces intense pressure from his Republican opponents to respond strongly to Iran.
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Mostly claimed by a nebula of fighters from pro-Iran groups who call themselves "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", these attacks take place in an explosive regional context, against a backdrop of war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas.