With Strategic Bombers, U.S. Launches Strikes Against Iraq, Syria (Videos)

A U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer begins aerial refueling from a KC-135 Stratotanker while conducting a Bomber Task Force mission over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, June 8, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Emily Farnsworth)

The United States military launched dozens of strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated forces late on February 2, the start of what will reportedly be a series of larger-scale attacks.

The strikes came in response to a drone strike by Iran-backed forces on a U.S. base in Jordan’s border with Syria, known as Tower 22, last weekend, which claimed the lives of three American service members and left more than 40 others wounded.

The U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement that strikes were carried out in Iraq and Syria “against Iran’s IRGC Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.”

“U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from the United States. The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions,” the statement said.

“The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” the statement added.

The strikes took place over about 30 minutes, and three of the sites struck were in Iraq and four were in Syria, said Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, director of the Joint Staff.

“We know that there are militants that use these locations, IRGC as well as Iranian-aligned militia group personnel,” Sims said. “We made these strikes tonight with an idea that there would likely be casualties associated with people inside those facilities.”

President Joe Biden stressed in a statement that the U.S. military response “will continue at times and places of our choosing.”

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” Biden said.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement released by the Pentagon that the strikes are “the start of our response.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Jordanian warplanes joined the U.S. attack as an expression of support for Washington. However, this is yet to be confirmed.

Iraqi army spokesman Major General Yahya Rasool said in a statement that the city of al-Qaim and areas along the country’s border with Syria had been hit by U.S. strikes. The strikes, he said, “constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, posing a threat that will pull Iraq and the region to undesirable consequences.”

In Syria, the strikes targeted positions of the Syrian military and its allies in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor. Syrian state media reported that there were casualties but did not give a number. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 18 militants were killed in the strikes.

The Syrian military said later in a statement that U.S. strikes resulted in numerous civilian and military casualties, injuries, and significant damage to both private and public properties.

The statement highlighted that the targeted region in eastern Syria is where the Syrian military is actively combating the last remnants of ISIS, “implying a concerning alliance between the U.S. forces and this extremist group.”

The drone strike that killed three American service members in Tower 22 came following a series of more than 160 attacks that targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria in response to the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip, which Washington has been providing unconditional support for.

The U.S. blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a broad coalition of Iranian-backed armed factions, for the deadly drone strike, but hasn’t narrowed it down to a specific group. Kataib Hezbollah remains, however, the top suspect.

The nature of the targets attacked by the U.S. military indicates that the Biden administration has ignored calls by hawkish officials to directly attack Iran, or IRGC personnel. Washington is not apparently planning to escalate, despite its talks about future strikes.

The strikes will not likely deter Iranian-backed forces. In fact, attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria will likely increase. Just minutes after the strikes there were reports of a rocket attack at the Conoco gas plant in Syria’s Deir Ezzor, which hosts a number of U.S. troops.

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