Biden pledges to “act forcefully” against Iran’s attacks in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – As Iran and the US are exchanging tit-for-tat attacks in areas in north and east Syria, the US President Joe Biden pledged on Friday to “act forcefully” to protect his troops against Iranian-backed attacks.
Biden, while on a visit to Canada, stressed that the US “does not seek conflict with Iran but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people.”
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Thursday conducting a strike against facilities used by groups affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria in response to an Iranian drone attack on a US base that resulted in casualties of the US troops.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that, at Biden’s direction, he had ordered “precision air strikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
The Thursday’s Iranian attack with a drone “of Iranian origin” on a base of the US-led Global Coalition in northeast Syria killed a US contractor and wounded another in addition to wounding five other service members.
Defense Department spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday that the operation was intended “to send a very clear message that we will take the protection of our personnel seriously, and that we will respond quickly and decisively if they are threatened.”
In response, Iranian-backed militants in an online statement signed by the Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria late on Friday said that they have a “long arm” to respond to further US air strikes on their positions following the US retaliatory attack that left a number of casualties of the Iranian-backed militants.