Washington says the strike was intended to defend US forces from recent attacks. A statement by US Central Command pointed to an August 15 attack on American forces as an example.
The airstrike is important because the US has only rarely retaliated for dozens of attacks carried out by the IRGC and its proxies against its forces over the last several years. These attacks increased in 2019 and have resulted in harm to US personnel in Iraq. Under the Trump administration, the rising tensions led to America killing IRGC Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
When the Biden administration came into office, it was widely expected to dial down the previous administration’s stance. For instance, under Trump, the US sanctioned the IRGC and the Houthis in Yemen. The Biden administration rolled back sanctions on the Houthis but has so far kept them on the Guard Corps. Iran had demanded these sanctions be lifted as part of the return to the Iran deal. In short, Tehran has always demanded impunity and freedom of action for its IRGC as well as proxy and terror groups in the region.
Iran wants money from the West as blackmail to keep it from developing nuclear weapons while maintaining the “right” to take over Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen and then use those countries to attack neighboring countries such as Israel.
This isn’t a secret or a matter of opinion: Iran openly says that this is what it has in mind. It believes its units in those countries are part of the “resistance” and openly says it wants to use these units against the US, Israel and other countries, such as several in the Gulf. Iran has used drones and missiles to attack US forces in Iraq and Syria, targeted the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and attacked ships in the Gulf of Oman. READ MORE
