Ashish Ranjan
Biden’s warning to Iran: President Joe Biden issued a warning to Iran on Friday that the United States would “act forcefully” to defend Americans following the U.S. military’s retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria.Later, officials reported that a second U.S. service member was injured on Friday during the most recent exchange of fire between Iran-backed forces and U.S. personnel in Syria.
This is in addition to seven casualties on Thursday, which Washington attributed to an Iranian drone and which included the death of an American contractor and the injury of five U.S. personnel and another contractor.
According to two local sources, suspected U.S. rocket fire on Friday targeted new areas in eastern Syria, with no casualties reported. Pro-Iranian forces in Syria said in an online statement late Friday that they have a “long arm” to respond to any additional U.S. attacks against 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 stalled and Iranian drones are being used against Ukraine by Russia.Although U.S. forces stationed in Syria have been targeted by drones in the past, fatalities are uncommon.
Biden told reporters during a visit to Canada, “Make no mistake: the United States does not… seek conflict with Iran, but be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people.”When asked if there should be a higher cost for Iran, Biden responded, “We will not stop.”
According to the Pentagon, U.S. F-15 aircraft attacked two facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday. (IRGC).The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria, reported that eight pro-Iranian fighters were killed by U.S. strikes. The death toll could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.
DRONE STRIKE
The U.S. strikes were a response to an attack by a drone earlier on Thursday on a U.S.-led coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria. The base was used to combat the remnants of Islamic State.
Three service members and a contractor required medical evacuation to Iraq, while two wounded American service members were treated on base. The Pentagon reported on Friday that the condition of the injured personnel was stable.
Under the condition of anonymity, two U.S. officials stated that it appeared the base’s defensive system had failed.The Pentagon stated that the U.S. military had a complete radar picture of the drone’s location, but one official told Reuters that ground forces did not appear to have had sufficient time to react.
Friday morning, a U.S. base at the Al-Omar energy field in Syria was attacked, according to the pro-Iranian Lebanese television station Al Mayadeen and a security source.It is not uncommon for groups supported by Iran to launch missiles at U.S. bases in Syria following airstrikes.
During the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State, U.S. forces entered Syria for the first time in partnership with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The majority of the approximately 900 U.S. soldiers in Syria are located in the east.
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Since the beginning of 2021, Iranian-backed groups have attacked U.S. forces approximately 78 times, according to the U.S. military.Sleeper cells continue to conduct hit-and-run attacks in desolate regions where neither the U.S.-led coalition nor the Syrian army exerts complete control, despite the Islamic State’s loss of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
