Militants Ignore Biden’s Warning, Rain Down Fire on US Forces in Iraq, Syria

President Joe Biden warned Thursday that Washington would “respond” to attacks against US forces in Syria and Iraq by “pro-Iranian” militias, and urged Tehran to “be prepared” for the US reaction. Militia attacks have surged in recent weeks amid the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, and Washington’s unequivocal support for Tel Aviv.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq militia group announced Sunday that it had launched a fresh drone attack against US forces in Syria.

The attack, said to involve two drones, reportedly targeted a US base in Al-Shaddadi, south of the city of Al-Hasakah, northeast Syria. The militia claimed the drones hit their intended targets.

Separately on Sunday, sources told Lebanese media that a US garrison in Deir ez-Zor province near the al-Omar oil field – Syria’s largest crude oil production facility, had come under attack, with some 10 separate attacks targeting al-Omar, as well as US bases in Harab Cir in neighboring al-Hasakah province.

Meanwhile, media reported a fresh attack using drones against the US base at al-Tanf in southern Syria near the Iraqi and Jordanian border.

US officials haven not commented on any of the latest attacks or any potential casualties or damage.

A Pentagon spokesman reported Friday that US forces and bases in Syria and Iraq had been targeted 20 times between October 17 and 27. A day earlier, the Pentagon indicated that 19 US service members had suffered "traumatic brain injuries" in Iraq and Syria, although no further information was provided about the severity of their injuries.

A US defense official told Sputnik Friday that US forces in Iraq had shot down an attack drone several kilometers from the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, where US troops are stationed.

Washington has repeatedly accused Iran of “actively facilitating” attacks on US bases and forces in Iraq and Syria using “proxy” militias.

On Thursday, a pair of US F-16 fighter jets struck ammunition and weapons depots in Syria which the Pentagon claimed were affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

President Biden said Wednesday that he had warned Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that if Iranian-backed forces “continue to move against [US troops in Iraq and Syria], we will respond, and he should be prepared,” adding that the situation in Iraq and Syria “has nothing to do with Israel.”

Mohammad Jamshidi, an aide to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, challenged Biden’s account about the “warning,” saying “US messages were neither directed to the leader of the Islamic Revolution nor were they anything but requests from the Iranian side.”

“If Biden thinks he has warned Iran, he should ask his team to show him the text of the messages,” Jamshidi wrote in a social media post.

The US is thought to have about 2,500 troops at bases in Iraq and about 900 across roughly a dozen locations across northeastern Syria. US troops have remained in Iraq in a so-called "train and advise" capacity despite the Iraqi parliament’s demand that they be withdrawn following the January 2020 assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. Syria has repeatedly demanded that the US end its occupation, with Damascus and its allies emphasizing that the presence of American troops is "illegal."

Washington has accused Iran of providing various forms of support to Syria and Iraq-based militias. The IRGC has provided extensive advisory and weapons assistance to Syrian and Iraqi forces mobilized to fight terrorism.

The escalation of attacks targeting US forces in Iraq and Syria comes amid the latest explosion of violence in the three-quarters of a century old Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with the October 7 Hamas surprise attack against southern Israel followed by three weeks of Israeli air, missile, and artillery attacks on Gaza, complemented in recent days by limited ground incursions.

Iran, Israel’s regional archenemy, has expressed political support for Palestinian militias, but firmly denied having anything to do with Hamas' attacks. Warning about the risks of escalation and blasting Washington over its support for Israel, Tehran has joined with Russia, China, Brazil, Turkiye, and other powers in demanding an immediate halt to the fighting in Gaza.