[News] Biden sets rules of engagement with Iran

[HiTLeR]

 

The administration of US President Joe Biden violated expectations to deal with Iran, and for the first time during the Biden era, the states publicly targeted Iranian sites on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in a warning message to Tehran that they are under surveillance and that the nuclear agreement does not mean complacency in striking terrorist militias in the region. The death toll rose to 22, all of them from the Popular Mobilization Forces and the Iraqi Hezbollah, according to figures published by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights today (Friday).

 

According to a spokesman for the Pentagon, John Kirby, according to the direction of President Joe Biden, the US military launched air strikes targeting infrastructure, used by Iranian-backed armed groups, in eastern Syria. He stressed that the raid sent "an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect US and coalition personnel."

This is the first time that Washington announces strikes against Iranian militias in Syria. Usually, unidentified aircraft targeting Iranian sites are indicated.

 

Kirby added in a statement that these strikes were approved in response to recent attacks against US and coalition forces in Iraq, and to the ongoing threats they are exposed to.

He emphasized that the strikes destroyed several facilities located at a border control point used by a number of Iranian-backed armed groups, including the "Hezbollah Brigades" and the "Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada" Brigades.

 

And it seems that Washington is heading for a clear and specific behavior with Iran, based on the parallel between the political and military tracks. "This military response was implemented in accordance with diplomatic measures, including consultations with coalition partners ... and it was carried out in a deliberate manner aimed at calming the general situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq," the Pentagon spokesman said.

 

These militias are considered one of the most dangerous groups supported by Iran, as Kataib Hezbollah was established in 2006, and it is an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that "seeks to implement Iran's malign agenda in the region," according to the US State Department's classification.

 

The United States has previously included Kataib Hezbollah on the list of specially listed terrorist organizations and terrorists.

Most likely, the American strike against Iranian militias in Syria defines the rules of US engagement with the Iranian regime, as Washington affirms that the nuclear agreement does not mean giving Tehran a free hand in the region, especially Syria and Iraq.