The US has launched an air assault on several sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran-backed militias, in an opening salvo of retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US service members in Jordan last weekend.
US Central Command said the strikes were targeted at Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. It said US military forces struck more than 85 targets including “command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities” belonging to militia groups and their IRGC sponsors.
Joe Biden warned in a statement released after the attacks began that “if you harm an American, we will respond”. The statement said: “The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: if you harm an American, we will respond.”
The US has said it has so far “hit exactly what we meant to hit”. Lt Gen Douglas Sims, director for operations on the joint staff, said the timing of the strikes was determined by the weather, with the best weather appearing on Friday. “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,” he said.
At least 18 Iran-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said. At least 26 important sites housing pro-Iran groups including weapons depots have been destroyed in raids striking a large swath of eastern Syria, stretching more than 62 miles (100km) from the city of Deir ez-Zor to Albu Kamal, near the Iraq border, the monitoring group told AFP.
An Iraqi military spokesperson has said US airstrikes were launched at Iraqi border areas, warning that the attacks could ignite instability in the region. Yahya Rasool said in a statement reported by Reuters: “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, saying if the US acts in this way its response will be swift and dramatic.
The US had warned it would carry out a series of reprisal strikes launched over more than one day. The US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said on Friday: “This is the start of our response. The president has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on US and coalition forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing.”
