-
Iran’s Zarif talks to Syrian FM after US strikes on Iran-backed militia in Syria
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke to his Syrian counterpart on Friday, hours after US air strikes on Iran-backed militias in eastern Syria.
“The two sides stressed the need of the West to adhere to UN Security Council resolutions regarding Syria,” Iranian government website Dolat.ir said.
There was no official comment yet from Syria on the air strikes conducted by the US against facilities belonging to what the Pentagon said were Iran-backed.
The strikes, which were first reported by Reuters, appeared to be limited in scope, potentially lowering the risk of escalation.
Biden’s decision to strike only in Syria and not in Iraq, at least for now, also gives the Iraqi government some breathing room as it carries out its own investigation of a Feb. 15 attack that wounded Americans.
“At President (Joe) Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
“President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq,” Kirby said.
He added that the strikes destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS).
source: Reuters
Image source: Reuters
Levant
