Syrian-Iraqi Border || US Drone Attacks At Pro-Iranian Targets

According to the Pentagon, the renewed attacks were aimed at pro-Iranian targets, including an arsenal. This was preceded by drone attacks on US personnel, it said from Washington.

The US military has carried out several air strikes in the Iraqi-Syrian border region. As the Pentagon announced, the attacks were aimed at targets used by pro-Iranian militias. President Joe Biden had authorized the "precise defensive attacks", said John Kirby, spokesman for the US Department of Defense, on Sunday evening (local time). 

From the attacked facilities, militias launched drone strikes on US personnel and facilities in Iraq . There are two targets in Syria and one in Iraq. Weapons were stored there, among other things.

Kirby said the background was the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups against US targets in Iraq. Biden ordered the military action to stop further attacks. The US acted in accordance with its right to self-defense.

Pentagon sends "chilling message"

With this attack, Biden showed that he was acting to protect US forces, Kirby said. The air strikes are both "necessary to counter the threat" and "appropriate in scope". The procedure is designed in such a way that it limits the risk of escalation, but at the same time clearly and unmistakably sends a "deterrent message".

Read also: In Iraq, pro-Iranian militias are killing

Since Biden took office in late January, there have been several bombing and rocket attacks on United States soldiers or civilians in Iraq. In response, the Biden government ordered its first air strikes in the region in February . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had reported 22 deaths after this attack. The US president had been criticized for the action by his own party members in Congress . The Pentagon defended the military attacks as legal and appropriate, calling them defensive attacks.

A civilian contractor belonging to the international military coalition had been killed in a rocket attack on the northern Iraqi city of Erbil in February. Several people were injured. In the past few months there had been further attacks in which rockets were fired at bases in Iraq used by the US Army.

Syria is also the scene of the conflict with Iran

Militias with close ties to Iran have long been suspected . They are demanding the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, which are supporting the Iraqi army in the fight against the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS). Iraq, but also Syria, have developed into the arenas of the conflict between the USA and Iran.

Read more: Afghanistan|| "we will leave no one behind"

The US air strikes come at a time when international negotiations are in progress on a possible US return to the nuclear deal with Iran. The agreement was concluded in 2015 between Iran and the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and China. Under President Donald Trump, the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed sanctions on Iran. In return, Iran no longer adhered to its obligations.

Read more: IRAN:: Another frowning, bearded man, another cleric

For several weeks, talks have been held in Vienna about the return of both countries to the requirements of the nuclear deal. Both Tehran and Washington had recently spoken of progress in the negotiations. However, US negotiators said there were "serious differences" and that no agreements had yet been reached.

US President Joe Biden has ordered an air strike in Syria against Iran-backed militiamen. This was preceded, among other things, by rocket attacks on US forces in Iraq . The Pentagon said it was in retaliation for a missile attack in Iraq that killed a US company employee and injured a US soldier and allied soldiers.

It is the first military strike under the new US administration. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on the airstrike announcement: "This proportionate military response was carried out along with diplomatic measures, including consultations with coalition partners.

The mission sends an unequivocal message: President Biden will act to protect the lives of American employees of the military coalition. At the same time, the approach aims to de-escalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq.

Read also: US patients Covid-19 in Guantanamo

According to activists, at least 17 members of pro-Iranian militias were killed in the air strikes by the US armed forces. The attacks were directed against three trucks with ammunition near the Iraqi border, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

Missiles at US Embassy

On Monday, according to the Iraqi army, at least two rockets hit the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, within the extensive fence around the US embassy. Rockets hit Balad Air Force Base on Saturday, injuring employees of a US company. On February 15, an employee of the US-led military coalition was killed in an attack at Erbil International Airport. Eight civilian employees and one US soldier were injured. An unspecified number of Iraqi and Kurdish civilians were also injured as rockets hit residential areas near the airport.

There is a US military base in Northern Iraq near the airport. The military coalition confirmed that a total of 14 rockets had been fired, three of which hit the base. Kirby said the investigation into who exactly carried out the February 15 attack is still ongoing. A Shiite militia called the Guardian of the Blood Brigade had claimed responsibility for the attack.

JOE BIDEN

Democrat Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States.

The vice president is California Senator Kamala Harris. She is the first woman and non-white to hold office.

Biden also relies on more diversity in the occupation of the rest of his cabinet. With Interior Minister Deb Haaland , the ministry is not only being run by women for the first time, the indigenous people of the USA are also represented for the first time. The former head of the US Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, is the first woman to take over the leadership of the Treasury.

From 1973 to 2009 Joe Biden was Senator for Delaware, after which he became Vice President under Barack Obama. Obama supported Biden's candidacy.

IRAN: On the way to dictatorship

The Iran is an Islamic Republic, which is led by a civilian government. Their work is overseen by the Supreme Leader of the Shiite clergy: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Among other things, the defense and nuclear program are under Khamenei's control. In June 2021, the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raeissi was elected as the new President of Iran. The previous head of justice was considered Chamenei's favorite.