US accuses, Iran denies
After a drone attack on a US base in Jordan near the Iraqi border killed three soldiers in late January, the US launched a series of airstrikes against militias in Iraq and Syria in retaliation. Washington also claimed to have found the mastermind behind the attack on the Jordanian base.
Speaking to the press, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington believes the drone attack was "planned, resourced and facilitated by the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" - an organization consisting of several Iraqi armed groups backed by Iran.
The US has carried out airstrikes on dozens of targets of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for an attack on a US base in Jordan in late January - Photo: EurAsian Times
The US military action comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East over the war between Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas, raising concerns that it could lead to a direct confrontation between the US and Iran.
For its part, Iran has denied any involvement in the Jordanian attack. “We do not seek war, but we are not afraid of it,” General Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, told the state news agency IRNA. “We are not aggressors, but we defend ourselves and our glory.”
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also called on the US to refrain from making threats or accusations and focus on a political solution. Mr. Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran's response to the threats would be swift and decisive.
Avoid direct confrontation
The drone attack on the US Al-Tanf military base in late January took place in an area controlled by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization until 2015.
In recent years, IS has been largely defeated. Foreign forces now control the area. The Jordanian government has allowed the US presence there: US forces are tasked with containing as much of the remaining IS remnants as possible.
Iran also has a presence in the region, according to the most recent study by the International Crisis Group (IGC). However, the ICG said it was difficult to assess the size of the Iranian force.
Members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia fighting against IS in Iraq in 2014 - Photo: DPA
Washington is concerned that Iran is trying to establish an east-west land corridor through Iraq and Syria to complement its existing air corridor. Iran, for its part, wants to prevent the US from controlling the north-south route from the Turkish border to the Jordanian border.
Iran wants to “expel” the United States from the region, as its political and spiritual leader, Ali Khamenei, has declared. Therefore, Tehran sees the war in Gaza as a good opportunity to increase pressure on the United States.
Hamidreza Azizi, an Iran expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said continued attacks on US targets in the region could prompt Washington to pressure Israel to quickly end its war with Hamas.
However, Azizi said that in any action these forces take, they will seek to avoid American casualties. “Iran and its allies know that American deaths will provoke a more decisive response from Washington,” the researcher explained.
“Currently, Tehran does not want to go to war with Washington,” Azizi stressed, explaining that Iran has long been careful to avoid direct conflict with the United States or Israel, because any war that would result from this would endanger security in Iran.
Nguyen Khanh
Source
Comment (0)