Joe Biden has warned “if you harm an American, we will respond” as US forces attacked more than 80 targets in Iraq and Syria in a wide-ranging air assault on sites belonging to Iran-linked militias and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The US president said the strikes had been launched in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan, adding: “Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.”
The US military’s Central Command said it had struck with more than 125 bombs in an attack that took place around midnight local time in what was described as the first of multiple attacks against the groups.
“US military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States,” Centcom said in a statement. The raids were aimed at facilities believed to be controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.
Targets included command and control operations, intelligence centres, rockets and missiles, logistics and munition supply chain facilities, Centcom said, but it was not clear how accurate the attacks were or what casualties they had caused.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups continue to represent a direct threat to the stability of Iraq, the region, and the safety of Americans. We will continue to take action, do whatever is necessary to protect our people, and… pic.twitter.com/Y53nvRfjjx
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 3, 2024
Initial reports from the ground were limited. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said at least 18 pro-Iran fighters were killed in eastern Syria during strikes believed carried out by the US.
At least 26 major sites housing pro-Iranian groups were destroyed in Syria, including weapons depots, the Observatory said. Warplanes destroyed 17 positions in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province, three attacks targeting al-Mayadeen and one striking Albu Kamal, near the Iraqi border.
A weapons warehouse and a command centre belonging to pro-Iranian groups were also targeted in western Iraq, along the Syrian border, resulting in at least “some injuries”, two Iraqi security sources told Agence France-Presse.
An Iraqi military spokesperson, Yahya Rasool, said US airstrikes were launched at Iraqi border areas and warned that the attacks could ignite instability in the region. “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.”
US officials told CNN that the US had no plan to bomb Iran, which would represent a significant escalation. Administration officials have repeatedly stressed that Washington does not intend to go to war with Iran, despite the accusation that it had armed the groups behind the Tower 22 attack.
Iran has also previously warned the US not to launch any direct strike on Iranian territory, warning of a swift and dramatic response if the US did so.
Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, emphasised that further bombing raids were planned. “This is the start of our response,” he said, adding that “the president has directed additional actions” against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and what it called affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on US and allied forces.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said the strikes lasted about 30 minutes. “These responses began tonight. They’re not going to end tonight. So there will be additional responses. There will be additional action that we will take, all designed to put an end to these attacks and to take away capability by the IRGC.”
The 85 targets were grouped in seven different locations: four in Syria and three in Iraq, according to US officials. Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director for operations on the joint staff, said the timing of the strikes was determined by the weather.
“The initial indications are that we hit exactly what we meant to hit with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations,” Sims said, although this could not be verified.
On Thursday, the US said it blamed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iran-linked militias, for the deadly drone attack last weekend on the remote Tower 22 logistics base in Jordan, near the border with Syria and Iraq. Three US army reservists were killed after living quarters were struck at night and more than 80 wounded.
Biden promised on Tuesday there would be a military response, and on Thursday Austin said it would be “multi-tier”, adding: “We look to hold the people responsible for this accountable.”
US bases in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 165 times since 7 October, the start of the Israel-Hamas war, by militias in the two countries who are linked to Iran. However, on Tuesday, Kataib Hezbollah, the Iranian group suspected by the US of conducting the Tower 22 attack, said it had suspended military activity against the “occupying forces”.
It said it wanted to avoid embarrassing the Iraqi government, which has in the past publicly complained about US retaliatory strikes against Iran-linked militias, arguing they amounted to a violation of its sovereignty.
The airstrikes only came on Friday night, a few hours after Biden attended a solemn military ritual at a Delaware airbase for the return of the three dead soldiers. Biden did not speak at the tribute, but did meet with families of those who had been killed.
Although the US is free from its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, surging tensions in the Middle East, sparked by the Israel-Hamas fighting, threaten to drag American forces back into regional conflict.
