US plans strikes against Iranian targets when weather is clear
JOE BIDEN has approved a plan to strike Iranian personnel operating in Iraq and Syria in retribution for a drone attack that killed three US troops.
The president has reportedly signed off a series of strikes designed to hit Iran and proxy groups backed by the state.
The timing of the US’S response will reportedly be influenced by the weather, with American forces in the region preferring to operate in clear conditions when civilian casualties can be minimised, sources told CBS News.
Mr Biden has been mulling the US’S response to Sunday’s attack in Jordan, where three US troops were killed by an explosion from a suicide drone, with dozens more injured.
John Kirby, the White House’s national security spokesman, has said the US wants to avoid war with Iran but must respond to an “escalation” in hostilities in the region.
The US has attributed blame for the attack to Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which it said was an “Iranian-backed” militia. Iran has denied any responsibility.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), a branch of the Iranian armed forces, is withdrawing some forces from Iraq and Syria in anticipation of the US response. Last night, Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said: “The president will not tolerate attacks on Americans, and neither will I.”
He said the Middle East was experiencing a “dangerous moment”, and while the US will “work to avoid a wider conflict … we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States”.
The Biden administration is thought to have ruled out strikes on Iranian soil, amid concerns that such a move would lead to war between the US and Iran.
US intelligence officials believe that Iran is increasingly worried about the actions of its proxy groups in the Middle East, including a variety of militias in Iraq and Syria and Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Iranian-backed forces have launched more than 160 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since October, when Hamas terror attacks on Israel led to a war in Gaza.
The war has become a rallying point for anti-american groups in the region, which have seized on a perceived opportunity to force US troops to withdraw.
CNN reported Iran is also concerned that Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea could damage the economic interests of China and India, as well as intended targets in the West.
It came as Qatar said Hamas had given “initial positive confirmation” to a proposal for the cessation of fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages.
US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators met with Israeli intelligence officials in Paris on Sunday where they proposed a six-week pause in the Gaza war and a hostage-prisoner exchange for Hamas to review. “That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side and now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side,” Majed al-ansari told an audience at a Washington-based graduate school. A source close to Hamas said that there was still no consensus on the proposal.
“There is no agreement on the framework of the agreement yet... and the Qatari statement is rushed and not true,” the source told AFP in Gaza. The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said there was “still a very tough road in front of us”.
“We are optimistic because both sides now agreed to the premise that would lead to a next pause,” said Mr Ansari.
‘We are optimistic because both sides now agreed to the premise that would lead to a next pause’