On Monday the Pentagon announced that Iran-backed forces have attacked “American positions and allies” at least 23 times in the last two weeks. As for a potential military retaliation, the Pentagon said the United States military will respond “at a time and place of our choosing, and we’re going to continue to do so.”
During a press briefing a senior Defense Department official told reporters Iranian terror forces have launched 14 attacks on American assets in Iraq and nine in Syria “through a mix of one-way attack drones and rockets” since October 17th.
“It’s about Iran and the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], who use infrastructure, militants, and proxies on the ground across the Middle East to include both Iraq and Syria,” the Defense Department official said, speaking only on background. “We reserve the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing, and we’re going to continue to do so.”
Last Thursday the military bombed Iranian positions in Syria, and American forces will continue to target Tehran’s proxy groups “at will” the official said. The Pentagon believes Iran is threatening to drag the United States into a larger regional war. “Let me be clear,” the official added: “We’re going to continue to respond when the president decides that’s necessary for U.S. force protection.”
The Washington Free Beacon reports “Tehran’s allies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen have stepped up their terrorism activities. These activities include rocket fire and shelling on Israel from areas in both Syria and Lebanon, where Hezbollah forces are stationed.”
The Pentagon also exclaimed that it has evidence that Hamas is using civilian structures as command centers. “What I would say about Hamas is [its] use of civilian structures for command-and-control facilities and to hide weapons,” the official said. “There is an abundance of public reporting about the ways in which Hamas uses civilians as human shields and civilian structures to hide and obfuscate tunnels, as well as weapons.” This includes “Hamas’s use of hospitals to emplace command-and-control infrastructure or other weapons that can be used against Israeli civilians.”
