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Bloomberg
US forces carried out airstrikes in Syria against groups tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, US Central Command said, a move that comes as Washington and Tehran weigh a new nuclear agreement.
The strikes at Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria were “intended to defend and protect US forces from attacks like the ones on Auguat 15 against US personnel by Iran-backed groups,†Colonel Joe Buccino, a spokesman for Centcom, said in a statement sent late Tuesday.
An aerial assault occurred Aug. 15 near the Al-Tanf garrison, an American military base near a key border crossing in Syria, Centcom said in a previous statement. There were no casualties at that time. The airstrikes on Tuesday, according to Buccino, “targeted infrastructure facilities used by groups affiliated†with the Guard Corps.
“The United States took proportionate, deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize the risk of casualties,†Buccino said, adding that President Joe Biden “gave the direction†for the strikes.
The airstrikes occurred as the Biden administration is sending signals that it will remain tough on Iran even as it weighs a return to the nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic that President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan metwith his Israeli counterpart, Eyal Hulata, and reiterated the Biden administration’s “commitment to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon,†according to a White House statement.
The original agreement placed limits on Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of related economic sanctions.