Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ drone strike wounded five U.S. servicemembers, one U.S. contractor, and killed another U.S. contractor.
QUICK FACTS:
- At least eight Iranian fighters are dead after the U.S. launched an airstrike in retaliation for a drone strike killing one American and wounding others.
- The attack occurred in the Syrian city of Hasaka.
- According to the Associated Press, an anonymous defense official said U.S. strikes were executed by “F-15 fighter jets flying out of al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.”
- “At the direction of President Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
- “The airstrikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” Secretary Austin continued.
- “As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing,” added the Defense Secretary. “No group will strike our troops with impunity.”
- The airstrikes follow reports that Syria and Saudi Arabia are working towards restoring diplomatic relations.
U.S-IRAN RELATIONS:
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley noted at a Capitol Hill hearing that Iran is “several more months” away from producing an “actual nuclear weapon.”
- “But the United States remains committed, as a matter of policy, that Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon,” he added, explaining the U.S. has “developed multiple options for our national leadership to consider if or when Iran ever decides to develop an actual nuclear weapon.”
- U.S. Central Command released a statement saying, “This evening, we responded to an attack on our forces that killed an American contractor and wounded our troops and another American contractor by striking facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. We will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing.”
- “We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks,” CENTCOM continued. “The thoughts and prayers of U.S. Central Command are with the Family of our contractor killed and with our wounded servicemembers and contractor.”
BACKGROUND:
- The House of Representatives recently rejected a resolution introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that would remove U.S. troops from Syria.
- “If Joe Biden wants to keep us in Syria’s war, then he must explain to the American people why, what the goal is, and what winning looks like,” Gaetz said.
- The United States currently has an estimated 900 troops in Syria.
