US military chiefs watch as coffins containing the remains of three soldiers killed in Jordan return to the Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, February 2, 2024. Photo credit: Alex Brandon/AP Photo
The United States has launched a series of airstrikes against targets in Iraq and Syria that are linked to Iran, in response to an attack that resulted in the death of American soldiers in Jordan, as reported by Al Jazeera.
This military action was carried out following the incident that claimed the lives of the U.S. soldiers in Jordan, and it targeted locations associated with Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria.
Iraq reported on Saturday that 16 people, including civilians, were killed in the country, while a monitoring group stated that 18 people were killed in Syria.
Iran has threatened to “decisively respond” to any US attack on the Islamic Republic. The US has approved plans for strikes in Iraq and Syria against multiple targets, including Iranian personnel and facilities.
According to Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the recent attacks on Iraq and Syria are a violation of international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both countries, and the United Nations Charter.
Kanaani also criticized the US government for supporting the Zionist regime’s attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, military attacks on Yemen, and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries.
Kanaani believes that the recent attacks on Syria and Iraq were another strategic error by the US government that will only increase tensions and instability in the region. Kanaani also stated that these attacks only serve to support the goals of the Zionist regime and overshadow their crimes in Gaza.
“This aggressive strike will put security in Iraq and the region on the brink of the abyss,” the Iraqi government said in a statement, and denied Washington’s claims of coordinating the air raids with Baghdad as “false” and “aimed at misleading international public opinion”.
According to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the presence of the US-led military coalition in Iraq has led to a threat to security and stability in the country and has become a reason for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts. The Iraqi government is beginning the process to remove the US-led international military coalition.
“Iraq reiterates its refusal to let the country be an arena for settling scores,” said government spokesperson Basim Alwadi
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US airstrikes have dangerously escalated the conflict in the Middle East and violated Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the safety of its people. The Ministry also accused the US of being the primary cause of global instability.
“The area targeted by the American attacks in eastern Syria is the same area where the Syrian Arab Army is fighting the remnants of the Daesh [ISIL] terrorist organization, and this confirms that the United States and its military forces are involved and allied with this organization, and are working to revive it as a field arm for it both in Syria and Iraq by all dirty means.”
“The aggression of the American occupation forces at dawn today has no justification other than an attempt to weaken the ability of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies in the field of fighting terrorism, but the army.”