The United States says it has carried out airstrikes on 85 targets inside Iraq and Syria.
The US began what it called “retaliatory strikes” against targets inside Iraq and Syria on Friday, claiming that those who were responsible for a recent deadly attack against American forces in Jordan were targetted.
The US Central Command claimed the targets include depots of rockets, missiles and unmanned drones.
“The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions,” US Central Command said on social media.
The US president said the strikes will continue at times and places of Washington’s choosing.
Joe Biden said in a statement that the strikes were the first in a series of actions by the US in response to the attack in Jordan.
“Our response began today,” he said. “It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” he stated.
Reuters news agency carried the report, citing “three US officials.”
The report cited “the US military” as saying that the strikes had hit “more than 85 targets with more than 125 munitions.”
Citing “security sources,” AFP reported taking place of a strike in western Iraq near the border with Syria.
Syrian state media also said an “American aggression” on sites in Syria’s desert areas and the Syrian and Iraqi border had resulted in a number of casualties.
The Sunday drone attack, which has prompted the alleged reprisal, targeted a small US outpost in Jordan, leaving three American troops dead and injuring at least 34 others.
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On Tuesday, Biden said he had “decided” on how he wanted the country to respond to the attack.
Repeating an earlier claim made by himself and other US officials, Biden purported that he held Iran “responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons.”
In a statement on Monday, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said Tehran had no links to attacks on US forces in the region as they were related to a conflict between regional resistance groups and the US military.
The statement was echoed in a letter that was written by Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations, to the world body’s Security Council.
Iravani categorically rejected accusations leveled by the United States about the Islamic Republic’s involvement in anti-American operations in the region.
He asserted unequivocally that “there is no group affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces, whether in Iraq, Syria, or elsewhere that operates directly or indirectly under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran or acts on its behalf.”
“Therefore, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not responsible for the actions of any individual or group within the region,” Iran’s UN ambassador added.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that US airstrikes on the two countries in West Asia once again demonstrated the aggressive nature of Washington’s foreign policy.
“It is obvious that the airstrikes are deliberately designed to further inflame the conflict.” Washington, she said, “is purposefully trying to drive the largest countries in the region into conflict.”
Zakharova said Washington’s “airstrikes involving strategic bombers across Iraq and Syria, … once again demonstrated to the world the aggressive nature of US policy in the Middle East.” “Recent events confirm that the United States is not and has never been looking for solutions to problems in the region.”
(PressTV)
- November 30, 2024
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