By Moussa Al Wazir | Staff Writer
On Sunday, January 28, 2024, an armed militia known as The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the drone attack on the American military base “Tower 22” located on the Jordanian-Syrian borderline. The attack resulted in the death of three American soldiers and the wounding of more than 30 active soldiers. This is the first time American troops in the Middle East have been killed since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, marking it as a major escalation of events.
The American and British Governments accused Iran of directing this attack. President Biden said, “We know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.” In response, the Iranian government, represented by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, came out with an official statement saying that they did not direct the attack on “Tower 22” and stated that this was an individual act of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq on their own and called the accusations “Baseless”. Furthermore, the Iranian government has also condemned this attack and called for peace in the Middle East. Additionally, Iran informed the International organizations, The United Nations in particular that it has no connection with those militias
In response to the attack on the American military base, on February 2, 2024, the US military struck 85 Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria employing more than 125 munitions, violating the Iraqi and Syrian sovereignty. The US government stated that the facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, weapons storage sites, and other facilities connected to the militias. Furthermore, President Biden stated that this military operation would be further continued at chosen times and locations. To date, no response has come from Iran and the attacked countries.
Many military experts expect that the American military operation against those groups will continue further and more attacks on Iran-backed targets, outside of Iran, will take place. On the other hand, Iran is expected to retaliate and respond to the American attacks by attacking American military bases in the region, intensifying the tensions in a region that is witnessing increasing instability.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68126137
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68131434.amp
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/01/28/politics/us-troops-drone-attack-jordan/index.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/2/us-launches-strikes-in-response-to-attack-that-killed-troops-in-jordan#:~:text=Three%20US%20soldiers%20were%20killed%20and%20about%2040%20others%20injured,responsibility%20for%20the%20drone%20attack.