Status: 06/28/2021 4:31 a.m.
The US Air Force has again attacked bases of the militias allied with Iran in Iraq and Syria. The aim was to have operational weapons depots at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq.
With another military strike under the orders of President Joe Biden, the US has increased pressure on Iran and its allies. The US military flew air strikes on several targets in the Iraqi-Syrian border region that were used by pro-Iranian militias, a Pentagon spokesman said.
From these facilities, Iranian-backed militias launched drone attacks on US personnel and facilities in Iraq. There are two targets in Syria and one in Iraq. Weapons were stored there, among other things. The Pentagon spoke of a necessary and appropriate defensive strike.
“Necessary” and “Appropriate”
The background to this is the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-supported groups against US targets in Iraq. The US president ordered military action to stop further such attacks. The US acted in accordance with its right to self-defense. With this attack, Biden had shown that he was acting to protect US forces, the Pentagon spokesman said. The air strikes are both “necessary to counter the threat” and “appropriate in scope”.
The procedure is designed in such a way that it limits the risk of escalation, but at the same time clearly and unmistakably sends a “deterrent message”. The US military had already launched air strikes in the east of the civil war country Syria at the end of February – numerous supporters of pro-Iranian militias were killed in the process.
Negotiating nuclear deals
In the past few months there had been further attacks in which rockets were fired at bases in Iraq used by the US Army. Militias that are closely linked to Iran have long been suspected. They are calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, which are supporting the Iraqi army in the fight against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). Iraq, but also Syria, have developed into theaters of conflict between the USA and Iran.
The US air strikes come at a time when international negotiations are underway over a possible US return to the nuclear deal with Iran. The agreement was concluded in 2015 between Iran and the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and China. Under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed massive sanctions on Iran. In return, Iran gradually no longer adhered to its obligations. For several weeks now, talks have been going on in Vienna about a return of both countries to the requirements of the nuclear deal. Both Tehran and Washington had recently spoken of progress in the negotiations.