US Conducts Additional Strikes on Iran-Backed Sites

Facts

• The US on Sunday launched airstrikes in Yemen destroying what it said was a Houthi-launched anti-ship cruise missile. It was the third consecutive day of retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed forces in the Middle East.¹
• Washington claimed that the missile launched in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen posed an 'imminent threat' to US naval vessels and commercial ships in the region. According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan the US military actions over the weekend were 'not the end of it.'²
• Sunday's attack came after the US struck 85 targets in 'strategic regions' in Syria and Iraq on Friday, followed by US and UK airstrikes on 36 Houthi sites in Yemen the next day. The strikes reportedly killed about 40 people in both countries and followed a drone attack on a military outpost in Jordan in late January that killed three US soldiers and injured dozens.³
• Meanwhile, the US Dept. of State on Monday said there was no direct warning to the Iraqi government of Friday's attacks, contradicting an earlier White House statement. According to the State Department, Iraq was informed 'immediately after the strikes' adding that Baghdad 'understood that there would be a response' following the attack in Jordan.⁴
• Iran's foreign ministry condemned the latest attacks on Yemen as 'a flagrant violation of international law,' while Iraqi senior politician Hadi al-Ameri called for the US to pull out its roughly 2.5K troops currently stationed in the country to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group (IS). In January, Baghdad and Washington began talks on ending the US-led coalition's presence in the country.⁵
• Meanwhile, at least six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a US-backed group — were reportedly killed and 18 others wounded at a US base at the al-Omar oil field in Syria's eastern province of Deir ez-Zor on Monday. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq — a coalition of Iranian-backed militias — claimed responsibility.⁶

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²Forbes, ³Livenowfox, ⁴POLITICO, ⁵Reuters.com and ⁶Guardian.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Guardian. Although Tehran has periodically called for its proxy groups to halt their attacks, and Iranian leaders have said they don't want war with the US, the world's number one sponsor of terror has not completely called for peace and continues to back these militant groups. Iran will likely stop short of attacking the US directly, as it knows that if need be, the US and its allies can quickly deploy aircraft carriers and fighter jets to the region to end what Tehran has started.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Intercept. The only people who approve of what the US is doing in the Middle East are members of the foreign policy establishment in Washington and their allies in Israel. The US has misguidedly allowed Israel to commit atrocities in Gaza while simultaneously fighting on its behalf in the Red Sea. You'd think that a Democratic president, for whom young Americans are necessary to get re-elected, would respect the will of those voters and stop meddling and enabling war crimes in the Middle East.