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US strikes Iranian targets in Syria: Pentagon
The U.S. military carried out strikes against two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it backs, the Pentagon said on Thursday, in response to a spate of attacks against U.S. forces in both Iraq and Syria, Reuters reported.
As tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas conflict, U.S. and coalition troops have been attacked at least 19 times in Iraq and in Syria by Iran-backed forces in the past week.
A total of 21 U.S. forces have suffered minor injuries, the vast majority of them traumatic brain injuries.
"These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
The strikes were ordered by President Joe Biden, Reuters reported.
"These Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop," Austin said in the statement.
"If attacks by Iran's proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people."
The strikes took place at roughly 4:30 a.m. on Friday in Syria (0130 GMT) near Abu Kamal, a Syrian town on the border with Iraq, and were carried out by two F-16 fighter jets using precision munitions, a senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.
The targets were weapons and munitions storage facilities, the official added, speaking late on Thursday to reporters in Washington, read the report.
The United States has occasionally carried out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed forces in the region after they attack American forces. In March, the U.S. military carried out multiple air strikes in Syria against Iran-aligned groups that it blamed for a drone attack that killed an American contractor.
President Biden has sent a rare message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Tehran against targeting U.S. personnel in the Middle East, the White House said earlier on Thursday.
According to Reuters the United States has 900 troops in Syria, and 2,500 more in neighboring Iraq, on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries but was later defeated.
There is growing concern that the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread through the Middle East and turn U.S. troops at isolated bases into targets.
"What we want is for Iran to take very specific actions, to direct its militias and proxies to stand down," a senior U.S. defense official said.
The United States did not coordinate the strikes with Israel, the official added.
Last week off the coast of Yemen, a U.S. warship shot down more than a dozen drones and four cruise missiles fired by Iranian-backed Houthis.
During a false alarm at Al-Asad air base in Iraq last week, a civilian contractor died from cardiac arrest.
The United States has sent warships and fighter aircraft to the region since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Oct. 7, including two aircraft carriers, to try to deter Iran and Iran-backed groups. The number of troops added to the region is in the thousands.
Reuters reported this week the U.S. military was taking new measures to protect its Middle East forces during the ramp-up in attacks by suspected Iran-backed groups, and was leaving open the possibility of evacuating military families if needed.
The measures include increasing U.S. military patrols, restricting access to base facilities and boosting intelligence collection, including through drone and other surveillance operations, officials say.
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Netanyahu claims he and Trump see ‘eye to eye’ on Iran after holding 3 calls within days
Netanyahu said Trump’s historic return to the White House offers a ‘powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America’
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a voice message on Sunday night that he and US President-elect Donald Trump have spoken on the phone three times in the past few days and that both are on the same page about Iran.
“In recent days, I have spoken three times with US President-elect Donald Trump. These were very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the US.
“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect.
“We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas,” he said.
Iran has vowed a “punishing” reprisal for unprecedented Israeli airstrikes against it on October 26, which Jerusalem said took out the Islamic Republic’s air defenses and missile production capabilities.
Israel’s strikes were in retaliation for Iran’s October 1 barrage of 200 ballistic missiles, which forced most of the country to take shelter and killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank.
Days earlier, Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime head of Hezbollah. Israel also killed Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas in Tehran.
Trump will take control of the US in January and has a record of anti-Iran actions.
In his first term, Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers and later re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.
He also ordered the killing of Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, who led the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps’ foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.
The IRGC is a US-designated terrorist organization.
Trump and Netanyahu also worked closely together during the former’s presidency.
Last week, Netanyahu stated Trump’s victory was “history’s greatest comeback!”
In a message on X he wrote: “Dear Donald and Melania Trump, Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”
He went on to say that “this is a huge victory!”
Signing off he wrote: “In true friendship, yours, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu.”
Israeli media has meanwhile reported that Trump has made it clear to Netayahu that he wants the wars in Gaza and Lebanon to be wrapped up by his inauguration on January 20.
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Iran foreign minister denies plot to kill Trump
Iranian analysts and insiders have not dismissed the possibility of a detente between Tehran and Washington under Trump, although without restoring diplomatic ties, read the report.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied U.S. charges that Tehran was linked to an alleged plot to kill Donald Trump and called on Saturday for confidence-building between the two hostile countries, Reuters reported.
"Now ... a new scenario is fabricated ... as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy," Araqchi said in a post on X.
He was referring to the alleged plot which Washington said was ordered by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump, who won Tuesday's presidential election and takes office in January.
"The American people have made their decision. And Iran respects their right to elect the President of their choice. The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect," Araqchi said.
"Iran is NOT after nuclear weapons, period. This is a policy based on Islamic teachings and our security calculations. Confidence-building is needed from both sides. It is not a one-way street," he added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that the claim was a "repulsive" plot by Israel and the Iranian opposition outside the country to "complicate matters between America and Iran".
Iranian analysts and insiders have not dismissed the possibility of a detente between Tehran and Washington under Trump, although without restoring diplomatic ties, read the report.
"Iran will act based on its own interests. It is possible that secret talks between Tehran and Washington take place. If security threats against the Islamic Republic are removed, anything is possible," Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said this week.
While facing off against arch-foe Israel, Iran’s clerical leadership is also concerned about the possibility of an all-out war in the region, where Israel is engaged in conflicts with Tehran's allies in Gaza and Lebanon.
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At least 21 killed, over 50 injured in Pakistan railway station bomb blast
At least 21 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, local media reported.
The blast occurred on the platform as passengers gathered for the departure of the Jaffar Express, scheduled to depart for Peshawar at 9am, Express News reported.
"The blast took place inside the railway station when the Peshawar-bound express was about to leave for its destination," said the senior superintendent of police operations, Muhammad Baloch, Reuters reported.
Among the victims are women and children, according to the Medical Superintendent at Civil Hospital, who reported that 46 of the wounded were brought to the hospital for urgent treatment.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, ordering an immediate investigation and labeling the incident as "a horrific act targeting innocent civilians."
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
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