U.S. and coalition forces in the Middle East have come under attack 23 times since mid-October, a senior defense official said Monday.
Between Oct. 17-30, American troops were attacked with rockets and drones 14 times in Iraq and nine times in Syria, the official told reporters.
Most of the attacks were “unsuccessful” as they were “successfully disrupted by our military,” the official noted.
U.S. officials believe Iranian-backed militants are behind the assaults.
“Iran’s objective for a long time has been to force a withdrawal of the U.S. military from the region,” they said. “What I would observe is that we’re still there.”
To combat the attacks, Washington last week struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran and its proxies, destroying a weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage area used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups.
The Biden administration has also worked to send a “strong” message of deterrence to Iran as concerns of a wider regional conflict escalate, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told White House media earlier Monday, as reported by CNN.
“We’re certainly going to act — if we have to — to continue to protect our troops and our facilities. We have proven that we will strike and act to do that. And that’s a strong message that Iran needs to take away. We take those responsibilities seriously.”
The Pentagon has also sent 900 troops to the Middle East to operate a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery and Patriot battalions, in addition to the two aircraft carrier strike groups moved to the region earlier this month.
“We’ve got to make sure we send a signal to all actors, not just Iran, but all actors, certainly Iran included, that we will take our national security interest very seriously. We will protect and defend our troops. And we’ll do it at a time [and] in a manner of our choosing,” Kirby said.
U.S. officials worry that Iran may use the Hamas-Israel war to open another front in the conflict, with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warning Sunday that Israel had “crossed the red lines” that “may force everyone to take action.”
Tehran funds Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both militant organizations have stated aims to destroy Israel.