The United States military has officially started a retaliation campaign against Iranian proxy groups after a drone strike killed three American troops located in Jordan last weekend, according to new reports published by Newsmax. Reports about the strikes were confirmed by a U.S. officials working at the Pentagon, who stated that airstrikes were now ongoing against Iranian proxy groups located in both Iraq and Syria.
Central Command, also known as CENTCOM, released a statement later in the afternoon on Friday that provided additional details concerning the timing of the strikes as well as the targets.
“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States. The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces,” the statement read.
Check out more details from Newsmax:
The attacks began a little more than an hour after the conclusion of a dignified transfer ceremony honoring the three soldiers at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Friday afternoon. That was attended by President Joe Biden.
The U.S. has blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella group for the weekend attack that killed Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, and wounded roughly 40 other American service members.
With nearly a week passing between the attack and the U.S. response, critics of the Biden administration have warned that the delay has given Iranian military officials and members of Tehran-backed militia groups ample time to go into hiding.
Newsmax also stated that the military actions are coming after the United States announced terrorism and sanctions-evasion charges and seizures connected to a billion-dollar oil trafficking network that has admitted to providing funding for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, along with several other militant Islamic groups.
All of this is in response to the drone strike that killed three American soldiers, as well as the aggressive actions that Iran has taken over the course of the last several years, the Justice Department stated. Back in August of 2022, the U.S. officially charged a member of the IRGC with attempting to kill former national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, John Bolton.
Actions by Iran-backed militants, including the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas and the attack over the weekend in Jordan, have increased the focus on Iran’s oil trade, the DOJ said.
“The Justice Department will continue to use every authority we have to cut off the illegal financing and enabling of Iran’s malicious activities, which have become even more evident in recent months,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland went on to say in a statement.
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