MIDDLE EASTU.S. Raids in Iraq and Syria: How Retaliatory Airstrikes Affect Network of Iran-Backed Militias
Iran’s “forward defense” strategy – focused on addressing threats externally before they become ones within its borders – would suggest that Iran will continue to support proxies through weaponry, funding and tactical knowledge to reduce the influence and legitimacy of the U.S. and its allies in the region. This underscores the delicate balance required in responding to Iranian-backed aggression – aiming to safeguard U.S. interests while preventing an escalation into a wider regional confrontation.
U.S. bombers struck dozens of sites across Iraq and Syria on Feb. 2, 2024, to avenge a drone attack that killed three American service members just days earlier.
The retaliatory strikes were the first following a deadly assault on a U.S. base in Jordan that U.S. officials blamed on Iranian-backed militias. Sites associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were among those hit by American bombs.
The Conversation U.S. turned to American University’s Sara Harmouch and Nakissa Jahanbani at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center – both experts on Iran’s relationship with its network of proxies – to explain what the U.S. strikes hoped to achieve and what could happen next.
Who Was Targeted in the U.S. Retaliatory Strikes?
The U.S. response extended beyond targeting Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyah fi al-Iraq, or Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the entity claiming responsibility for the drone attack on Jan. 28.
This term, Islamic Resistance in Iraq, does not refer to a single group per se. Rather, it encompasses an umbrella organization that has, since around 2020, integrated various Iran-backed militias in the region.
Iran officially denied any involvement in the Jan. 28 drone strike. But the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is known to be part of the networks of militia groups that Tehran supports with money, weapons and training through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
In recent months, parts of this network of Iran-backed militias have claimed responsibility for more than 150 attacks on bases housing U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq.
As such, the U.S. retaliatory strikes targeted over 85 sites across Iraq and Syria, all associated with Iranian-supported groups and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The U.S. operation’s stated aim is to deter further Iranian-backed aggression. Specifically, in Syria, the U.S. executed several airstrikes, reportedly resulting in the death of at least 18 militia group members and the destruction of dozens of locations in Al-Mayadeen and Deir el-Zour, a key stronghold of Iranian-backed forces.
In Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces, a state security apparatus comprising groups backed by Iran, reported that U.S. strikes resulted in the deaths of 16 of its members, including both fighters and medics.
The U.S. response was notably more robust than other recent actions against such groups, reflecting an escalation in efforts to counter the threats posed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliates.
