‘America is back’ with airstrikes on militia in Syria

In its first military action, the Biden administration has ordered airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia in Syria, which Chinese experts believe is an obvious move by the US to target Iran and send a clear signal to the outside world that “America is back.”

“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier this evening (Thursday) conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria. These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement.

The attacks came days after militias launched rockets at US forces in Iraq as tensions between the US and Iran continue to simmer.

Yin Gang, a research fellow with the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that although the attacks aimed at facilities in

Syria, the target was Iran, and the move could be seen as the Democratled government’s reverse of the Iran policies implemented by former president Donald Trump.

“During the Trump era, the US tended to use economic sanctions against Iran and did not politically engage with Iran. Nonetheless, the pro-establishment Democratic government wants to resume the Iran nuclear deal, but it is telling Iran not to take action in Syria, as they are two different issues,” said Yin, adding that the Biden administration is not expected to let Iran succeed.