U.S. diplomat says strikes in Syria, Iraq aim to degrade IRGC
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the U.S., via airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, is not looking to just send a signal, but to degrade the capabilities of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Hours after U.S. warplanes conducted dozens of strikes in Iraq and Syria, Kirby told reporters, “This was not just a message-sending routine tonight … This was about degrading capability taking in a more robust way than we have in the past, taking away capabilities by the IRGC and the militant groups.”
The strikes come in response to drone and rocket attacks that targeted the U.S. Tower 22 base in Jordan near the Syrian border late in January and killed three U.S. service members and injured over 40 others.
The U.S. responded striking 85 targets across seven facilities, three in Iraq and four in Syria, according to Kirby. The attacks targeted more than 125 precision-guided munitions over the course of around 30 minutes, he added.
Kirby said during a press call hours after the airstrikes, “If you’re taking away capability of an adversary who’s trying to kill your troops and act against your interests in the region, … then you are, by default, working to de-escalate the tensions.”
Kirby has not specified whether or not Kataib Hezbollah, in particular, was targeted during the latest strikes, but he named the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Iranian-backed militias.
The official said the results of the operation were still being assessed, he added that the Pentagon believed they “were successful.”
Since the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, American bases in Syria and Iraq have been targeted by Iran-backed militias, and almost all of these attacks have been claimed by the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militia.