The United States on Friday carried out a series of military strikes against Iranian forces and the militias they support in seven sites in Syria and Iraq, marking a sharp escalation of the war in the Middle East that the Biden administration has for four months sought to avoid.
The airstrikes, targeting command and control operations, intelligence centers, weapons facilities and bunkers used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force and affiliated militia groups, made good on President Biden’s promise to respond to a drone attack in Jordan on Sunday that killed three American soldiers and injured at least 40 more service members.
The military action also sought to send a message to Iran and the militias it backs that continued attacks on U.S. troops in the region and commercial ships in the Red Sea would draw a response.
The strikes hit more than 85 targets at different locations using more than 125 precision-guided munitions, according to a statement by U.S. Central Command.
“This past Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” President Biden said in a statement. “Our response began today.”
Mr. Biden approved the strikes earlier in the week. He even telegraphed that they were coming when he told reporters on Tuesday that he had made a decision on the response to the drone attack on a remote outpost in Jordan. Middle East analysts said that many Revolutionary Guards trainers, fearful that they could be hit, returned to Iran this week while militia leaders are in hiding.
