US President Joe Biden yesterday in South Carolina. (Photo Kent Nishimura / AFP)
BEIRUT — US officials told American television channel CBS News that plans have been approved for "a series of strikes over several days against targets — including Iranian personnel and facilities — inside Iraq and Syria."
After the war between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, pro-Iranian factions carried out multiple attacks against US military bases in Syria and Iraq. The most notable attack happened on Jan. 28 when a drone launched by Iran-backed militias struck a US military outpost in Jordan, leaving three US soldiers dead and wounding 25. On Jan. 30, Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah announced in a statement the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region to prevent "embarrassment" to the Iraqi government.
The expected US strikes will come in response to the multiple attacks that targeted the US in Syria and Iraq in the past months, especially the Jordan drone strike. According to a report published by CBS News on Thursday, there was no indication from US officials that the group's declared suspension was delaying the American military's retaliatory strikes.
Officials told CBS News that "weather will be a major factor in the timing of the strikes." They explained that the US has the capability to carry out strikes in bad weather but prefers to have better visibility of selected targets as a safeguard against inadvertently hitting civilians who might stray into the area at the last moment.