Interaction between Iran and the United States in the Kurdistan Region: The U.S. Response to the September 17 Airborne Drone-Bombing Attack
The United States has bombed facilities used by militant groups in Iraq at least 40 times since October 17, according to officials.
Not only have the attacks continued — there have been at least 22 more since the American retaliatory strikes last month — but Pentagon officials said they have become more dangerous. According to U.S. officials, Iranian backed militias have put larger loads of explosives on drones launched at American bases.
The official said that the strike was aimed at degrading the abilities of groups that were responsible for attacking the US forces in the region. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide an assessment of the strike.
The US is prepared to do more to protect its people and facilities. “We urge against any escalation.”
The strikes came after the Pentagon said a U.S. military MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone was shot down off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The downing of the drone, the mainstay of the American military’s aerial surveillance fleet, was another escalation of violence between the United States and Iran-backed groups in the region. The episode underscored the risks that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas could spiral into a wider war.
Three administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning, said that the Biden administration had been trying to figure out how to prevent the Shiite militias from attacking US troops in the region.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Sunday that the attacks and threats coming from militias that are aligned with Iran are unacceptable.
The Pentagon said that 45 personnel were injured in two attacks on Oct. 17 and 18. There were 33 at al-Tanf in southeastern Syria with a mix of minor injuries and traumatic brain injuries, while 13 were at al-Asad air base in western Iraq. One person was injured at Irbil air base in Iraq.
The U.S. officials attempt to game out what will happen each time they hit a target, one official said. Two officials said that the military and the intelligence community have been considering the possibility of a blowback when targeting militia leaders if they were to be killed.
The Biden administration also uses a “deconfliction” line with Russia to try to manage escalation in Iraq and Syria, two officials said. The Americans expect Russian officials to inform Iran of what is coming in Syria, as they frequently do in other parts of the world.
Since Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, President Biden and his aides have sought to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from spilling over into a regional conflict with Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
At the same time, the department has moved a number of air defense systems and other forces into the region to beef up protection for U.S. forces. And on multiple occasions, the systems have intercepted incoming strikes. The number of warships in the Middle East has doubled, the number of air defense missile systems has about tripled, a few more squadrons of fighter jet have been added, and hundreds of more troops have been deployed to the region. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss force numbers not yet made public.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly pledged to destroy Israel and repel U.S. military forces from the region, and the leaders of militant groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza view Mr. Khamenei as a powerful ally, often seeking his advice and consulting with him on strategic issues.
“We assess Iran, Hezbollah, and their linked proxies are trying to calibrate their activity, avoiding actions that would open up a concerted second front with the United States or Israel, while still exacting costs in the midst of the current conflict,” Christine S. Abizaid, the leader of the National Counterterrorism Center, told a Senate panel last week. This is a very tough line to walk.
U.S. strikes on Iranian Revolutionary Guard weapons storage facility near Maysulun, Gaza, and retaliation for Israel’s Hamas attack
Two U.S. fighter jets dropped bombs on a weapons storage facility near Maysulun in the Deir el-Zour area that was being used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
A military official told reporters in a call that people were seen at the warehouse during the day as the U.S. military watched the site for hours, but the number decreased to about “a couple” overnight when the strike occurred. The official said that the strike caused secondary explosions that indicated the presence of weaponry, but that the U.S. believed that no civilians were killed or that people were tied to militia groups.
A powerful explosion at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds and caused outrage in a number of Muslim nations. The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Hamas rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
The strikes have failed to deter further attacks, despite officials saying they were meant to. Rocket and drone attacks have occurred almost daily, although in nearly all cases they have resulted in little damage and few injuries.
The defense official acknowledged that the U.S. strike in October didn’t convince Iran to stop the attacks. But, the official said, the strikes show America’s willingness to use military force.