Iranian-supported militias in Iraq and Syria have carried out more than 180 attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East since mid-October, but there haven’t been any for more than two weeks now.
The most recent attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan were carried out on Feb. 4, deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Tuesday. It’s unclear whether the cessation will continue long-term.
The back and forth between U.S. forces and those militias culminated in the killing of three U.S. troops in Jordan on Jan. 28. Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, and Spc. Breonna Moffett were killed in one of these attacks at Tower 22, a small military base in northeast Jordan near its borders with Syria and Iraq.
In the days after that attack, Iranian Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani met representatives of several of the armed groups in Baghdad and informed them that killing U.S. forces would incur a heavy response, according to Reuters.
More than 140 service members have been wounded in all of these attacks.
The U.S. carried out a multiday, multipronged response to the death of the service members. The first phase was a series of airstrikes that occurred on Feb. 2, striking more than 85 targets using more than 125 precision munitions at seven facilities, three in Iraq and four in Syria. The strikes led to the deaths of more than 40 militants.
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Days later, the U.S. also carried out an airstrike in Baghdad targeting Abu Bakr al Saadi, a commander with the Kataib Hezbollah militia, the group the U.S. has accused of the strike that hit Tower 22. Iraqi military leaders condemned the strike, calling it a “blatant assassination.”
The militias receive support, weapons, and training from Iran, though it’s unclear the level of control Tehran has over many of its proxies throughout the Middle East. The U.S. opted not to strike targets in Iran in the aftermath of the deaths of the U.S. troops.
