{"id":9460,"date":"2021-07-15T12:33:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T09:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=9460"},"modified":"2021-07-17T14:35:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T11:35:42","slug":"us-retaliatory-strikes-against-iran-in-iraq-and-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/reports\/us-retaliatory-strikes-against-iran-in-iraq-and-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"US Retaliatory Strikes Against Iran in Iraq and Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The United States carried out retaliatory strikes<\/a>  against Iranian-backed proxies in response  to  its troops and facilities coming under attack in Iraq and Syria. As per Pentagon briefings, the locations targeted were used by Iranian-backed proxies such as  Kata\u2019ib Hezbollah and Kata\u2019ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. The timing of these recent US retaliatory strikes is quite important. They took place amid an intensification of drone attacks against US interests in the region and while the deadlock continues at the Vienna nuclear talks. This surge in drone attacks is indicative of Iran\u2019s defiance and its ongoing policy of \u201cplausible deniability.\u201d In the aftermath of the drone attacks, Iran\u2019s representatives denied<\/a> the country\u2019s hand in the attacks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Iraq\u2019s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned the attacks against US troops and facilities calling<\/a> them a \u201cblatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi national security,\u201d and said that he would review<\/a> all legal options to prevent further escalation. He also said that \u201cIraq reiterates its refusal to be an arena for settling scores.\u201d Iran intends to take advantage of  the instability in Iraq knowing that Kadhimi  will have no option  but to walk a tightrope  in order not to anger  either side amid a tense security situation in the country. In addition, Iran is not worried about US military responses to its provocations as it continues to hide under the cover of \u201cplausible deniability.\u201d Iran\u2019s president-elect Ebrahim Raisi,  once inaugurated, is likely to intensify proxy operations in the region against US interests particularly in Iraq and Syria, which will no doubt trigger further military responses from Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the recent US military response was the second time that the  Biden administration had ordered airstrikes against Iranian-backed proxies operating in the region.The Biden administration had  faced extensive criticism<\/a> from several US lawmakers  after it had ordered its first round of airstrikes  in February. Senator Bernie Sanders openly criticized<\/a> the move and warned the Biden administration of \u201ccontinuing on the same path\u201d which  will only extend America\u2019s \u201cforever war\u201d in the region. The Biden administration confirmed that  its recent retaliatory strikes were \u201cdefensive precision airstrikes\u201d that  targeted the weapons storage facilities of  Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq and Syria. Pentagon Press Secretary  John Kirby in a statement further explained that \u201cthe targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq.\u201d Kata\u2019ib Sayyid al-Shuhada confirmed<\/a> in a statement that at least four of its fighters were killed in the US retaliatory strikes. To avoid further escalation, the United States carried out measured and calculated retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed proxies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent Iranian strikes via its proxies against US troops and facilities  indicate Tehran\u2019s evolving approach to the question of the regional balance of power and how to change it in its favor as well as reflecting the ongoing differences between the United States and Iran.  While Washington makes further concessions to revive the 2015 nuclear deal,  Tehran continues to activate its  proxies to target US interests, hence threatening regional stability. The Biden administration plans to keep in place  a limited counter-terrorism operation force in Iraq and Syria to respond to repeated threats from Iranian-backed proxies.   The latter in recent months have increased<\/a> drone attacks  targeting US and coalition forces in Iraq, and after the recent US retaliatory strikes,  Kata\u2019ib Hezbollah has vowed<\/a> to seek revenge. Its spokesman Mohammed Mohi warned<\/a> the United States of surprise attacks as  its presence in  Iraq is \u201cillegal.\u201d As mentioned, Iran denied its role in the attacks targeting US troops and facilities in Iraq and Syria.  Iran\u2019s UN envoy, Majid Takht Ravanchi said<\/a>, \u201cAny claim to attribute to Iran…any attack carried out against American personnel or facilities in Iraq is factually wrong and void of the minimum requirements of authenticity and reliability.\u201d He also said that the US retaliatory strikes violated international law. However,  overwhelming evidence proves Iran\u2019s  direct involvement in Iraq and Syria despite its policy of \u201cplausible deniability.\u201d Several reports<\/a> suggest that Iran has provided its proxies in the region with drone technology leading to  the proliferation of arms and the recent mode of attacks indicate the extensive nature of Iran\u2019s military support to its proxies.  Iran\u2019s drone transfers  to its proxies range from lightweight reconnaissance drones like Oghab-1 and Yasir to combat drones like Basir-1 produced by Iranian companies  such as Farnas Pasargad and Iran Aviation Industries Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent US retaliatory strikes indicate a possible escalation in clashes  between Iranian-backed proxies and US  troops in Iraq and Syria in the coming months as tensions remain high<\/a> in the region. Given the domestic and international challenges facing the Biden administration, it cannot afford to escalate the situation and will be forced to limit its retaliation in response to further Iranian aggression. Meanwhile, Iran will continue to instruct its regional proxies to launch attacks against US troops and facilities in order to pressure Washington into making broader concessions at the nuclear talks before it commits to resuming its nuclear obligations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United States carried out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed proxies in response to its troops and facilities coming under attack in Iraq and Syria. As per Pentagon briefings, the locations targeted were used by Iranian-backed proxies such as Kata\u2019ib Hezbollah and Kata\u2019ib Sayyid al-Shuhada. The timing of these recent US retaliatory strikes is quite important. They took place amid an intensification of drone attacks against US interests in the region and while the deadlock continues at the Vienna nuclear talks. This surge in drone attacks is indicative of Iran\u2019s defiance and its ongoing policy of \u201cplausible deniability.\u201d In the aftermath of the drone attacks, Iran\u2019s representatives denied the country\u2019s hand in the attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,351,83,5832,5833],"class_list":["post-9460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports","tag-iran","tag-iraq","tag-syria","tag-us-retaliatory","tag-us-retaliatory-strikes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9460"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9479,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9460\/revisions\/9479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}