American forces have attacked two facilities, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian-backed forces in Syria. The Pentagon has said the attacks were conducted after Iranian forces struck the American forces several times in Syria, and the US warned of counter-attacks whenever they wanted. President Biden’s administration previously said they would respond to the attacks on US personnel, which they accused Iranian-backed forces of conducting those strikes. There are threats of retaliation by the active groups in Syria.

The Defense Secretary for the United States, Lloyd Austin, said on Thursday that America did not want to get involved in any further conflict, nor they had any intention to do so, but he said the attacks by Iranian-backed forces would be unacceptable. He added that Iran wanted to play blind after the attacks and deny its role in the strikes against American troops, but the US would not let them. If attacks continue, America will not hesitate to take further countermeasures to protect its people. Austin added that American strikes were in self-defense and had nothing to do with the Israel-Hamas war.

The Defense Secretary added the activities in the Syrian region were separate and far apart from the ongoing war in Gaza, and there is no shift in the approach to the Israel-Hamas ongoing conflict. White House National Security Council Spokesperson stated earlier that Washington would respond to the attacks by Iran-backed groups and that it would choose how and where they would hit. These comments by the White House came after the US Department of Defense made remarks that their forces in Syria were attacked a minimum of 16 times by the Iranian-backed militant groups.

21 US Soldiers Were Injured, Officials

American officials claimed that 21 US personnel in Syria were wounded, and most suffered severe brain injuries. There were reports on the attacks on the US forces in the Syrian region after the tensions triggered by Hamas’ attack on October 7. The officials claimed that Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, took a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,500. Israel started its retaliatory actions and started invading Gaza, and till now, authorities claim that it has killed around 7000 Palestinians so far.

Biden directly warned the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against the targeted attacks on US troops. While addressing Khamenei, he added if Iran continuously targeted the American soldiers, then they should be ready for the counter-action. Furthermore, he said it had nothing to do with Israel. The United States and Tehran do not have formal diplomatic ties, and Mr. President did not mention how the message was delivered to the Iranian Supreme leader.

Biden Has Sent No Warning Message To No One

An aide to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Mohammad Jamshidi, disagreed with the American President’s remarks on social media and said Biden has not sent any message to the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary group nor the Tehran government. He added that if Biden had sent the warning message to Iran, he should talk to his team and show the text. American authorities are concerned about the possible escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict in a broader region.

Hamas is Gaza’s governing group, Hezbollah is a Lebanese armed group, and Iran supports both. Hezbollah has a conflict with Israel at the Lebanese border. The United States has openly announced its support of Israel in the conflict to press the Hamas militants. President Biden was on his tour to Israel after the conflict erupted in the Middle East and vowed to back Israel with all the means. In the meantime, he requested his House of Representatives to pass around 106 billion dollars of funds, which includes a huge amount for Israel as well. Iranian Foreign Minister recently said that America would be responsible for the genocide in Palestine. America has opposed the ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel has its right to self-defense.