US carries out air strikes against Iran backed militia
The United States said on Sunday it had carried out a round of air strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria.
The move targeted operational weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one in Iraq in response to drone attacks by the militia against US personnel and facilities in Iraq.
"As demonstrated by this evening's strikes, President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect US personnel," the Pentagon said in a statement.
John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary said: “The United States took necessary, appropriate and deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation — but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message."
Two US officials told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that Iran-backed militias carried out at least five drone attacks against facilities used by US and coalition personnel in Iraq since April.
US military forces said it was unclear whether anyone was killed or injured but officials said assessments were ongoing.
Iraqi militia groups aligned with Iran in a statement named four members of the Kataib Sayyed al-Shuhada faction they said were killed in the attack on the Syria-Iraq border. They vowed to retaliate.
Biden and the White House declined to comment on the strikes on Sunday, but the US president will meet outgoing opposite number in Israel, Reuven Rivlin, at the White House on Monday.
Both sides will also discuss ongoing efforts to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
The attacks could risk stoking tensions in the region just over a week after Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner, won Iran’s presidential election.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said the Biden administration was heading in the wrong direction: "We recommend that the new US government reform its path instead of [following] such emotional behaviours, creating crisis [...] problems and dilemmas for people in the region."
Khatibzadeh also told reporters in his weekly press conference on Monday that the new US administration should not follow former US President Donald Trump’s stance against Iran.