US Continues to Face Threats from Iran-backed Forces Despite Strikes
U.S. military action has failed to stop Iran-backed groups from attacking U.S. forces in the Middle East and shipping in the Red Sea, despite recent heavy air strikes.
Militants have launched attacks from or hit four different countries, creating a multi-front challenge for the U.S. as it tries to curb the unrest while avoiding direct conflict with Iran.
Recent U.S. strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria were in response to a drone attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan. Joint strikes with Britain were also conducted against Yemeni rebels.
However, American forces were subsequently targeted in Syria, and rebels continue to attack merchant vessels.
Jon Alterman, the director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believes violence will persist for a while, but the number and size of attacks will diminish due to U.S. strikes and the desire of Iran and its supported groups to reduce their losses.
There are no plans for a long campaign in Iraq and Syria, but the Pentagon will take necessary actions to protect U.S. forces, according to spokesman Major General Pat Ryder.
Michelle Grise, a senior policy researcher at RAND, anticipates continued proxy attacks during the Gaza war, with intensity and frequency potentially changing. She also suggests that an extended ceasefire could lead to a pausing of current attacks.
The ongoing violence is fueled by anger over Israel’s campaign in Gaza and has resulted in repeated attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East. Iran-backed forces in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen have been involved in these attacks.
American troops have been targeted more than 165 times in the past four months, with many of the attacks claimed by Tehran-backed armed groups opposed to U.S. support for Israel and its presence in the region.
The U.S. retaliated with strikes in Iraq and Syria after a drone attack in Jordan killed three soldiers, but American troops continue to be targeted. In Yemen, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels began targeting Red Sea shipping in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The U.S. blames Tehran for arming and funding the groups carrying out the attacks, but has so far not targeted Iranian territory to avoid a potentially devastating war.
Alterman warns that a major direct confrontation could lead to an open-ended regional war with no clear end point or objectives, something that the U.S. public and its partners and allies in the region do not want.
