2024-02-07T14:26:40+00:00
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/ A report published by “Agence France-Presse” on Wednesday stated that the US military intervention has so far failed to stop attacks launched by armed groups supported by Iran on US forces in the Middle East and cargo ships in the Red Sea, with threats continuing despite recent intensive air strikes.
The attacks, carried out by armed groups that say they are in solidarity with Gaza, which is witnessing a war between Israel and Hamas, are being carried out from four countries, posing a multi-front challenge to the United States, which seeks to ease the unrest while avoiding a direct conflict with Iran.
Last week, the United States launched dozens of airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan, and it also carried out joint strikes with Britain against Yemeni rebels over the weekend.
But US forces were then targeted in Syria, while Houthi rebels in Yemen launched new attacks on commercial ships.
“I think we’re going to see some level of violence continue for some time,” said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Iran and the groups it supports don’t want to surrender.”
“At the same time, I think the number and size of attacks will decrease, for two reasons: the first is that the American strikes reduce their capabilities, and the second is that they want few losses,” he added.
The attacks continue
Asked if the Pentagon was planning a long military campaign in Iraq and Syria, spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said, “As I see it, that’s not going to be the case.”
Asked if airstrikes would continue as long as attacks on US forces continued, Ryder said: “We will take all necessary measures required to protect our forces.”
“There is a possibility that we will see continued proxy attacks throughout the war (between Israel and Hamas), although the intensity and frequency of those attacks may change,” said Michelle Grays, a policy researcher at the nonprofit Rand Corporation.
She added that there is a scenario in which the attacks will continue even after the war ends, but she indicated that she expects “an extended truce to stop the current attacks, at least in the short term.”
Anger over the Israeli campaign in the Gaza Strip, which began after the October 7 attack by Hamas, has fueled violence involving Iranian-backed armed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
recurring attacks
US forces in the Middle East have been targeted more than 165 times in the past four months, with a coalition of Tehran-backed militias opposed to Washington’s support for Israel and the presence of US forces in the region claiming responsibility for many of the attacks.
Most of the attacks occurred in Iraq and Syria, but one occurred in Jordan on January 28 when a drone struck a military base, killing three American soldiers and wounding dozens.
The United States responded with air strikes on Iraq and Syria on Friday and said it would carry out more, but that did not prevent American forces from being attacked in the following days, according to the Pentagon.
In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels began targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea in November, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
On Saturday, US and British forces launched the third round of joint strikes against the Houthis since the second week of January, a period during which US forces also carried out individual airstrikes.
But over the next three days, the US military announced strikes targeting ground-based missiles in Yemen and two explosive-laden drones that posed an “imminent threat,” and said the Houthis had fired six missiles at two commercial ships, causing minor damage to one.
The United States says Tehran is responsible for arming and financing the groups carrying out the attacks, but has not targeted Iran so far as it seeks to avoid a potentially devastating war.
“A major direct confrontation risks triggering an open regional war with no end in sight or clear goals,” Alterman said.
“I don’t think the American people want an open war in the Middle East, and this applies to America’s friends and allies in the region,” he added.