US forces again respond to Iran-backed attacks in Syria
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – US forces on Wednesday responded to rocket attacks by Iran-backed groups at two sites in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, destroying three vehicles and equipment used to launch some of the rockets.
U.S. forces respond to #Iran aligned attacks in #NESyria.
— Combined Special Ops Joint Task Force-Levant (@SOJTF_LEVANT) August 25, 2022
"we have a total spectrum of capability to mitigate threats across the region, and we have every confidence in our ability to protect our troops and Coalition partners from attacks" - Gen. Kurilla, #CENTCOM #Syria https://t.co/zj14nNdVK2
“Initial assessments indicate that two or three suspected Iran-backed militants conducting one of the attacks were killed during the U.S. response,” US Central Command said in a press release.
The attacks began at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time in Syria when several rockets landed inside the perimeter of Mission Support Site Conoco in Deir ez-Zor, northeast Syria.
Shortly after, additional rockets landed in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Green Village, which is also in Deir ez-Zor.
In Conoco, one US soldier was briefly injured.
However, the US military also underlined that the “United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but we will continue to take the measures necessary to protect and defend our people.”
The current Biden administration is focused on reviving the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, despite the continued attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned groups on coalition forces and its partners.
Read More: US continues to blame Iran for stalemate on nuclear deal—but still willing to conclude agreement
Also on Tuesday, the US struck Iran-backed groups in eastern Syria in response to assaults in recent days on the Coalition helping partner forces to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
US Undersecretary of Defense, Dr. Colin Kahl on Wednesday underlined that the US strikes show the US “commitment to push back against Iran’s support for terrorism, militancy, and the threats that they engage in against our people in the region or elsewhere, are not linked to wherever we end up on the nuclear deal.”
Read More: US conduct strikes on Iran-backed groups in Deir ez-Zor
“But whether the JCPOA is reborn or not, it actually has nothing to do with our willingness and resolve to defend ourselves,” he also added. “And I think the strike last night was a pretty clear communication to the Iranians, that these things are on different tracks.”
Nicholas Heras, a Senior Analyst and Program Head for State Resilience and Fragility at the Newlines Institute in Washington, D.C., told Kurdistan 24 that it is "doubtful that either the USA or Iran wants to escalate in eastern Syria."
"Both want limited headaches there. The USA wants a stable, under-the-radar counter-ISIS mission that fits a focus on confronting Russia and China. Iran wants to keep on entrenching for a war with Israel."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani on Wednesday while ‘strongly’ condemning Tuesday's US strikes, also said he received the US proposal on the nuclear deal and removing sanctions through the Europeans.