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Two US fighter jets struck weapons and ammunition facilities in Syria on Friday in retaliation for attacks on US forces by Iranian-backed militia as concerns grew that the Israel-Hamas conflict may spread in the Middle East.
US President Joe Biden ordered strikes on the two facilities used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and militia it backs, the Pentagon said, warning the US will take additional measures if attacks by Iran’s proxies continue.
US and coalition troops have been attacked at least 19 times in Iraq and in Syria by Iran-backed forces in the past week. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are all backed by Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at the United Nations on Thursday that if Israel’s offensive against Hamas did not stop, the United States will “not be spared from this fire.”
The US air strikes took place at roughly 4:30 a.m. on Friday in Syria (0130 GMT) near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq, and were carried out by two F-16 fighter jets using precision munitions, a US defense official said.
“These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“These Iranian-backed attacks against US forces are unacceptable and must stop,” Austin said.
Biden has sent a rare message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Tehran against targeting US personnel in the Middle East, the White House said earlier on Thursday.
“What we want is for Iran to take very specific actions, to direct its militias and proxies to stand down,” a senior US defense official said. The United States did not coordinate the air strikes with Israel, the official added.
Israel said on Friday military raids into Gaza were preparing “the next stage of the operation,” amid fears that a ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave could spark a wider Middle East conflict.
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