US President Joe Biden has promised to respond to a series of missile attacks on Pentagon military bases in Syria and the death of an American serviceman. America blames this on the pro-Iranian forces, which have become significantly more active recently. The Middle East reminds the United States that the war with them continues and that American troops must finally leave Syria.US President Joe Biden has declared his readiness to respond to attacks by pro-Iranian groups on US military bases near Syrian oil fields.
At the same time, he made a reservation that the United States does not seek a conflict with Iran, and when asked whether Tehran should "pay a higher price," he replied: "We are not going to stop."
According to the owner of the White House, last night US pilots carried out several "targeted" airstrikes in Syria, allegedly against those responsible for the attack on the US military. F-15 aircraft attacked at least two facilities that were used by groups accused by the Americans of collaborating with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
On Thursday, a pro-Iranian paramilitary group launched a drone strike on one of the American facilities. As a result, one American was killed and several were injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the course of the war in Syria, announced the death of eight pro-Iranian combatants. According to Iranian state television, no one was killed, and the target of the air raid was not a military post, but a rural development center near the military airport.
In addition, the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV channel reported on the rocket attack on US military bases in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor – at the Koniko gas field and the Al-Omar oil field. After the attack, military helicopters were lifted into the air.
Finally, on Friday, a US base in the Green Village area in northeastern Syria was shelled.
US forces in the SAR have been attacked using drones and missiles before (in total, according to the Pentagon, 78 times since the beginning of 2021), but deaths were quite rare.
Syrian pro-Iranian forces say they have a "long arm" to respond to further US strikes on their positions.
Recall that the US armed forces were first deployed in Syria during the Obama administration's campaign against the Islamic State* and in partnership with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces group. Currently, there are about 900 American troops in Syria, most of them in the east, where the cleansing of territories from IS militants continues. According to Western analysts, "sleeping" terrorist cells continue to carry out attacks in desert areas where neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian army have full control over the situation.
Political analyst Mais Kurbanov believes that a series of rocket attacks and a drone strike is the price for the unrequited US attacks on the positions of Iranian and pro–government forces in Syria. "The strikes of recent days are a response to American aggression. No one invited Americans to Syria, they are on foreign soil and do not bear any responsibility for what they are doing there.
This is the first time the United States has received such a serious response – and naturally, they are shocked by what is happening. They clearly did not expect such serious resistance.
For them, it is a reminder of the loss in Afghanistan. A serious blow has been dealt to the image of the United States again," Kurbanov is sure.
According to the expert, the confrontation on Syrian territory will continue, and the cleansing of the remnants of the IG * is just a pretext, because the US bases are located near oil fields.
"The Iranian bases in Syria are well fortified. Since American military facilities were attacked, the organizers of the attacks understood what they were doing. And this is just the beginning. The Americans will be forced to leave Syria, as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan," the political scientist stressed.
The expert of the Russian Council on International Affairs, orientalist Kirill Semenov is sure that the situation in the region is more explosive than in the recent past. "The escalation is taking place against the background of a special operation, practically a confrontation between Russia and the West.
There are also Russian military personnel in Syria not far from Iranian bases and pro-Iranian formations.
The situation in the area adjacent to the Euphrates River has always been tense – one spark is enough to make everything flare up there. Nevertheless, the escalation has not yet reached the level after which more ambitious steps will follow," he believes.
According to the expert, in the future, the Americans can carry out massive airstrikes thanks to their Qatari Al-Udeid airbase. "The main element of deterring the Americans is precisely the Al-Udeid base. From there, planes arrive promptly and strike at the specified targets," he notes.
The main task of the United States in Syria, the expert is sure, is to protect the autonomous administration in the north and east of the country, created by Kurdish leftist formations, from any attacks from Turkey and Bashar al-Assad. The pro-Iranian forces have also noticeably strengthened, they control an entire area in Syria between the cities of Mayadin and Abu Kemal, where the so-called Shiite corridor runs.
"One of the reasons the Americans are in Syria is the control over this corridor, which runs along the land route from Iran to Lebanon through Iraq and Syria. Pro-Iranian groups, including Iraqi ones, are holding him for now. Because of this, the element of escalation will always remain," Semenov summed up.
* The organization(s) have been liquidated or their activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation
Andrey Rezchikov