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The United States started carrying out retaliatory strikes on Friday in Iraq and Syria, three U.S. officials said, after a deadly attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops and injured some 40 others.
The strikes are believed to be just the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden’s administration in response to the weekend attacks that the U.S. says were carried out by Iran-backed militants.
While the U.S. strikes did not target any locations inside Iran, they are likely to increase concern about tensions in the Middle East spiraling from Israel’s more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.
Biden and other top U.S. leaders have been warning for days that the U.S. would strike back at the militias, and they made it clear that it wouldn’t be just one hit, but would be a “tiered response” over time.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations not yet made public. The Associated Press also confirmed the strikes, citing U.S. officials who spoke anonymously.
The initial strikes by manned and unmannded aircraft were hitting command and control headquarters, ammunition storage and other facilities in Iraq and Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the militias it backs.
They came just hours after Biden and top defense leaders joined grieving families to watch as the remains of the three Army Reserve soldiers were returned to the U.S. during a somber ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
—With additional files from the Associated Press
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