US President Joe Biden places his hand over his heart as a US Army carry team moves a flagged draped transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. Breonna Moffett during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base on 2 February 2024 in Dover, Delaware. Photo: KEVIN DIETSCH / Getty Images via AFP
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart, Reuters
The United States carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Friday in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, the US military said, after a deadly attack in Jordan that killed three US troops and injured some 40 others.
The strikes are believed to be just the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden's administration to the attack last weekend carried out by Iran-backed militants.
While the US strikes did not target any locations inside Iran, they are likely to increase concern about tensions escalating in the Middle East amid a widening fallout from Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
The US military said in a statement that the strikes hit targets including command and control centers, rockets, missiles and drone storage facilities, as well as logistics and munition supply chain facilities.
The strikes hit more than 85 targets spanning seven locations, four in Syria and three in Iraq, and included the use of long-range B-1 bombers that flew from the United States, the military said.
They targeted the Quds Force - the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of the IRGC that heavily influences its allied militia across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria.
US Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, said it appeared the strikes were successful, triggering large secondary explosions as the bombings hit militant weaponry, though it was not clear if any militants were killed.
But Sims added that the strikes were taken knowing that there would likely be casualties among those in the facilities.
Syrian state media said on Friday that an "American aggression" on sites in its desert areas and at the Syrian-Iraqi border resulted in a number of casualties and injuries.
More to come
The Jordan attack was the first deadly strike against US troops since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.
The United States has assessed that the drone that killed the three soldiers and wounded more than 40 other people was made by Iran, US officials have told Reuters.
"Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing," Biden said in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, Biden and Pentagon leaders had attended the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as the remains of the three soldiers were returned.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Biden had directed additional action against the IRGC and those linked to it.
"This is the start of our response," Austin said.
But the Pentagon has said it does not want war with Iran and does not believe Tehran wants war either, even as Republican pressure has increased on Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran.
"We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces," Austin said.
Before the retaliatory strikes on Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that Iran would not start a war but would "respond strongly" to anyone who tried to bully it.
Iranian advisers assist armed groups in both Iraq, where the US has around 2500 troops, and Syria, where it has 900. The IRGC has recently scaled back deployment of senior officers in Syria due to a spate of deadly Israeli strikes.
US troops have been attacked over 160 times in Iraq, Syria and Jordan since the Hamas rampage in Israel that killed 1200 people, according to Israel tallies, and sparked the conflict on 7 October.
Houthi fighters in Yemen have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the Red Sea, which they say is intended to support Palestinians against Israel.
At least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed and 65,087 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Iraqi concerns
The strikes could further complicate the US military presence in Iraq.
The Iraqi military said the strikes were in the Iraqi border area and warned they 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," Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement.
Baghdad and Washington have agreed to set up a committee to start talks on the future of the US-led military coalition in Iraq, with the aim of setting a timetable for a phased withdrawal of troops and the end of the US-led coalition against Islamic State.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that the Iraqi government was notified about the strikes ahead of time.
Iraq's shadowy Kataib Hezbollah, which is blamed by the US for the Jordan attack, said on Tuesday it would pause attacks on US forces.
But another Iran-backed Iraqi group, Nujaba, said it would continue launching attacks on US forces in the region until the Gaza war ends and US forces exit Iraq.
This story was originally published by Reuters.