Ajit Karn
President Joe Biden warned Iran on Friday that the United States would “act forcefully” to defend Americans after U.S. military air strikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria in response to an attack.
Later, officials reported that another U.S. service member was wounded in Friday’s latest retaliatory strike between Iran-backed forces and American personnel in Syria.
This is in addition to the seven casualties attributed to an Iranian drone by the United States on Thursday, which included the death of an American contractor and the wounding of five U.S. personnel and another contractor.
Friday, alleged U.S. rocket fire targeted new areas in eastern Syria, according to two local sources; no casualties were reported. Pro-Iranian forces in Syria said in an online statement late Friday night that they have a “long arm” to respond to any additional U.S. attacks on their positions.
The violence could exacerbate already tense relations between Washington and Tehran, as efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and major world powers have faltered and Iran’s drones are being used against Ukraine by Russia.
Although U.S. forces stationed in Syria have previously been attacked by drones, fatalities are uncommon.
During a visit to Canada, Biden told reporters, “Make no mistake: the United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but we will act forcefully to protect our people.”
Biden responded, “We will not stop” when asked whether there should be a higher price for Iran.
According to the Pentagon, U.S. F-15 aircraft attacked two Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-affiliated facilities on Thursday. (IRGC).
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria, eight pro-Iranian militants were slain by U.S. Air Strikes. The death toll could not be confirmed independently by Reuters.
Iran’s state-run Press TV reported that no Iranians were slain and cited local sources as saying that the objective was not a military post aligned with Iran, but a rural development center and a grain center near a military airport.
DRONE STRIKE
The U.S. strikes were in retaliation for an earlier Thursday drone attack on a U.S.-led coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria.
Three service members and a contractor required medical evacuation to Iraq, while two injured American service members were treated at the base. The Pentagon reported on Friday that the injured personnel’s condition was stable.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, reported that the base’s defensive system had apparently failed.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. military had a complete radar picture of the drone’s location; however, one official told Reuters that soldiers on the ground did not appear to have had sufficient time to respond to the drone’s attack.
According to pro-Iranian Lebanese television station Al Mayadeen and a security source, an attack on a U.S. base at the Al-Omar oil field in Syria occurred on Friday morning.
It is not uncommon for Iranian-backed factions to launch missiles at U.S. bases in Syria after they have been struck by airstrikes.
During the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State, U.S. forces entered Syria for the first time in partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led organization. The majority of U.S. forces in Syria are located in the east.
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According to the U.S. military, Iranian-backed factions have attacked U.S. personnel approximately 78 times since the beginning of 2021.
Sleeper cells continue to conduct hit-and-run attacks in desolate areas where neither the U.S.-led coalition nor the Syrian army exerts complete control, despite the fact that Islamic State has lost its 2014 territory in Syria and Iraq.
