US And Iran On The Brink Of War As Pentagon Targets Iran-Backed Groups
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Hashim Sheikh
- . February 6, 2024
- . Update: February 6, 2024 12:46 pm
The Pentagon has announced that it does not plan to keep attacking Iran-supported groups for a long time. Even though Israel is increasing its actions in Gaza, the U.S. is not aiming for a long war.
Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. Pentagon officials say they will keep striking these groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, but they don’t know for how long. These actions are a response to attacks from Iran-backed groups.
Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, said that the U.S. is ready to take more steps, but did not give a timeline.
He emphasized that America doesn’t want a full-scale war against these groups in Iraq and Syria. The main goal is to protect U.S. forces, not start a big conflict.
The Pentagon also thinks that Iran-backed militias will keep attacking, despite the U.S. airstrikes. These groups have attacked U.S. sites in Syria recently, but there were no injuries. The U.S. is trying to weaken these groups’ ability to attack.
The recent U.S. strikes in Syria and Iraq targeted places used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and their allies, like command centers, weapons storage, and logistics facilities.
The aim was to hit military targets that were threatening U.S. forces. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on TV that the U.S. hit valid military targets.
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The Pentagon says that most of the targets in Iraq and Syria were destroyed or damaged. These strikes were a response to a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.
The U.S. wants to prevent more attacks but acknowledges that the militias still have a lot of power to attack in the future.
There were no clear reports of Iranian advisors being killed, but Syria and Iraq reported about 39 deaths, including civilians.
In addition to strikes in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. also hit Houthi targets in Yemen. The U.S. is trying to reduce threats to its troops and ships in the Red Sea.
Even after the strikes, militias continue to attack U.S. positions. There have been many attacks against U.S. forces in the region, and the U.S. is preparing for more actions in response.
US National security experts think that it would take a long time to significantly weaken these militias. The U.S. aims to punish those attacking Americans without starting a direct war with Iran. But controlling Iran’s proxies, who get support from Iran, might be hard.
Iran has allowed these groups to attack U.S. positions without always getting direct orders from Tehran. The U.S. is trying to find more targets and avoid civilian casualties, while also avoiding a bigger war with Iran. But the approach to hit Iran-backed militant groups is likely to lead to a major US-Iran war.
