US Conducts Precision Strikes on Iranian-Backed Facilities in Syria

The United States military carried out targeted strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria utilized by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated groups. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that these precise self-defense strikes were in response to a series of ongoing and largely unsuccessful attacks by Iranian-backed militia groups against US personnel in Iraq and Syria, starting on October 17. During these attacks, one US citizen contractor passed away due to a cardiac incident, and 21 US military personnel sustained minor injuries, all of whom have since returned to duty.

Earlier on Thursday, President Joe Biden directly warned Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against striking US troops, as conveyed by the White House. The strikes on Syrian facilities were explicitly aimed at safeguarding US personnel in Iraq and Syria and were not connected to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Defense Secretary Austin emphasized that these strikes did not signify a shift in the US approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict.