Pentagon: US Strikes Iranian-Linked Facilities in Syria

Facts

• According to the Pentagon, the US targeted two facilities linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria on Thursday. The strikes come amid growing concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict risks spreading throughout the Middle East.¹
• The Pentagon announced that two US Air Force F-16 fighter jets attacked a weapons storage facility and an ammunition depot near Abu Kamal, bordering Iraq, with 'precision self-defense strikes.' Senior Pentagon officials claim it was a response to a string of recent Iranian-backed attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria.²
• The Pentagon specifically alleges Iran-backed militias have launched at least 12 attacks on US forces in Iraq and four in Syria over the past ten days.³
• This comes after Pres. Joe Biden sent a rare message to supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, cautioning him not to target US soldiers in the Middle East, according to the White House.⁴
• The Pentagon has confirmed that about 900 more US troops have arrived or are heading to the Middle East to reinforce US 'force protection capabilities' amid rising tensions over the Hamas-Israel conflict.⁵
• The USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike group and new air defense systems are also among additional resources being sent to the Middle East, reportedly to improve the protection of US forces in the region.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²DW, ³Air & Space Forces Magazine, ⁴Al, ⁵Iran Front Page and ⁶CBS.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. The US has the right to self-defense if its forces fighting the Islamic State are attacked by Iranian-backed militias. The US delivered surgical strikes, and there is no doubt that the Iranian regime is the lynchpin for the ongoing attacks on US forces in the region. The Ayatollah in Tehran must understand that the American people will not tolerate an escalation of the attacks, which threaten to destabilize the entire region. Washington wants to prevent a widening of Hamas' war against Israel, and hopefully, the regime has gotten the message.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Tehran Times. While the US repeatedly refers to its right to self-defense, it blatantly ignores the Palestinians' right to self-defense and staunchly backs the Israeli regime's outrageous collective punishment campaign against the people of Gaza. It's absurd to assume that the resistance forces will stand idly by as the West refuses to call for a ceasefire and while Washington vetoes draft UN resolutions to end the war. Washington, not Tehran, is fueling the conflict, and Iran will continue to support the Palestinian right to freedom.

Predictions