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The U. S. has introduced a series of military measures against Iranian forces and militias in Syria and Iraq. The attacks are in retaliation for a strike last weekend that killed 3 U. S. infantrymen and wounded dozens more in Jordan. Nick Schifrin reports.
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Geoff Bennett:
The U. S. tonight introduced a series of military moves against Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq.
Amna Nawaz:
The attack comes in retaliation for a weekend attack that killed three Americans and wounded dozens more in Jordan.
Nick Schifrin has reported on those developments and now joins us here.
So, Nick, what’s the latest? What can you tell us?
Nick Schifrin:
The U. S. military said it used 125 rounds of ammunition on more than seven targets at seven sites in Iraq and Syria.
And the targets included command and intelligence centers, as well as docking facilities for missiles, rockets and drones that those teams used to attack U. S. soldiers. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier this week that those targets were particularly similar to attacks on U. S. troops. in the region.
There have been more than 160 strikes on U. S. troops in Iraq and Syria, and this weekend one was added that killed 3 U. S. soldiers. But tonight’s targets went deeper than any U. S. strike, and this map is where the attacks those proxy teams have introduced against U. S. troops in Iraq and Syria are located.
But what was significant about tonight’s U.S. strikes is that the targets went beyond these proxy groups. The targets included the Quds Force. That is the part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that sponsors these groups, that the U.S. says provides weapons, intelligence, and training to these groups.
And what’s significant about this is that this is the first time in the last three months that we’ve noticed attacks of this kind where the U. S. is going after Iranians. It’s Iranian, Iranian weapons, Iranian sieges. Yes, they are connected. but it’s not the Iraqis and Syrians who are pressuring Yetton.
These are Iranians. And it’s the first time we’ve noticed this. Another significant detail of those attacks, Amna, is that the U. S. U. S. B-1 bombers flew from the U. S. to attack Iraq and Syria, which we didn’t see either.
A senior defense official told me that, strategically, this is something of a signal to Iran: a reminder that the United States has the capability to fly those bombers, as well as the fact that the bombers are bringing heavier bombs to attack facilities. underground. . that the United States needs to attack, even though Kirby just publicly denied that he intends to send a message to Iran tonight.
And officials are reiterating tonight everything we’ve heard from U. S. officials in the past, which is, and I quote, the “first level” of a multi-layered reaction. As President Biden said today: “Our reaction began today. It will continue at the times and positions we choose. “
And Amna, the day began with a reminder to the commander-in-chief of the losses caused by that night’s attacks.
Today is one of the most solemn military rituals at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, with the Commander-in-Chief honoring the infantrymen whose final sacrifice, three coffins, containing Sgt. William Rivers, who won a posthumous promotion today, and Sergeants Kennedy. Sanders and Breonna Moffett, all three from an engineering unit founded in Georgia.
They were killed last weekend in their bed in Tower 22 in Jordan via a drone that U. S. officials say is Iranian. Iran’s military showed off some of its attack drones last week. The organization that the U. S. says fired him is part of the pro-Iranian umbrella organization. , the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
U. S. officials say they did not want an escalation and therefore did not attack Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In recent days, Iran appears to have sent signals of de-escalation. The U. N. nuclear watchdog says Tehran is slowing down the speed of its stockpile of enriched uranium, which it would want if it could produce nuclear weapons.
And Iran’s supreme leader reportedly urged the government to distance itself from its proxy groups, including another member of the umbrella group Harakat al-Nujaba, which vowed today to keep attacking U.S. troops.
Today, before the attacks, Iranian President Ebrahim Rasi reiterated that Iran seeks or will back down from the war.
Ebrahim Rasi, Iranian President (through interpreter):
We have said many times we will not initiate any war, but if anyone wants to bully, Iran will respond firmly.
Nick Schifrin:
U. S. officials say they still have no idea, at this time, of the casualties at those sites, civilians or militants, in Amna.
Amna Nawaz:
Nick, you commented that management describes this as the first of a multi-layered response. What does this mean?
Nick Schifrin:
That’s a question.
They didn’t describe it. But when I communicate this to U. S. officials, they distinguish between other types of targets that could include the next few days. So tonight’s targets were the garage facilities, as we told you, the command and control centers. Leadership Goals.
So that would be a step that the United States could consider. The United States insists (or at least the American officials I have spoken to insist that it is not intended to target Iran itself). Yemen. Current US and UK efforts in Yemen have sought to degrade the functions of the Houthis, who have launched three dozen attacks on US ships and foreign shipping lanes.
And U. S. officials tell me tonight that they expect some kind of attack or some kind of concerted effort to further degrade the Houthis’ capability in Yemen. As for Iran’s response, of course, it’s too early to tell. But administrative officials I speak with say they expect this to be calibrated.
They hope that it will be calibrated to check that they will prevent the continuation of those attacks without starting any kind of war with Iran. The question is whether there are secret diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Iran. Tonight, John Kirby of the National Security Council said there had been no communication between Iran and Washington.
But, once again, what Washington seeks to do is to prevent attacks and, at the same time, move to war with Iran.
Amna Nawaz:
Nick Schifrin with the latest on those U. S. moves abroad.
Nick, thank you so much.
Nick Schifrin:
Thank you.
Eliot Barnhart is the maker of PBS NewsHour.
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