Speaking to journalists before stepping into his new role at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, with responsibility for military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and across the region, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said that recent US intelligence that Iran is preparing to send Russia armed and unarmed drones to use in its war on Ukraine “is not a surprise … but it’s concerning.”
“We’re in this position where we’re not under attack constantly, but we do see planning for attacks ongoing,” Grynkewich said, according to AP.
“Something will occur that unleashes that planning and that preparation against us,” he added. Everyone in the region is very concerned.”
Still in recent weeks, he said, US forces have seen a reduction in targeted attacks across the region, as a tenuous ceasefire between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led military coalition continues in Yemen and as an ongoing government formation process in Baghdad keeps Iran-backed militias in limbo, waiting for the political chaos to settle before they strike.
Iranian-affiliated militias have frequently fired rockets towards the Green Zone in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, where the US embassy is located, since the US elimination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January of 2020.
One such attack, which occurred shortly after the elimination of Soleimani, resulted in 109 US service members being diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury.
The Iraqi Ain al-Asad base has also come under attack several times, including twice within several days in January.
In addition to the missile attacks in Iraq, there have also been close calls between US and Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf.
Last month, three vessels controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps buzzed two American ships at what the US military called “dangerously high speed”.
Another such incident in May of 2020 included a tense encounter between US and Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf.
The US military said at the time that 11 Revolutionary Guards naval vessels from the Guards navy came close to US Navy and coast guard ships in the Gulf, calling the moves “dangerous and provocative”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that the incident had taken place, but also claimed that it was American forces who sparked the incident.
