The Washington Post reported that events in the Middle East are accelerating at an alarming rate in light of the continuing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the flaring of hotspots of tension in the region, at a time when the US President’s administration is seeking to urge the conflicting parties to exercise restraint.
Columnist Ishaan Tharoor reported – in an article in the American newspaper – that the global shipping sector was paralyzed as a result of the Houthi attacks in Yemen on ships passing through the Red Sea, which prompted Washington and some of its allies to target sites belonging to this Shiite group.
Moreover, Israel has launched “limited” strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and targets linked to Iran in Syria, including last Monday’s attack south of Damascus in which several people were killed.
Then there is the most urgent challenge for Washington – according to the Washington Post – as a pro-Iranian armed group based in Iraq claimed responsibility for a drone attack, last Monday, on a US army base in northeastern Jordan on the border with Syria, which resulted in the killing of 3 American soldiers. , and 34 others were injured.
This is perhaps the bloodiest attack on American forces since October – according to the writer – as militias linked to Tehran launched at least 160 attacks on American military targets. For its part, Washington responded to these attacks by launching retaliatory strikes. About 2,500 American soldiers are stationed in Iraq, and about 900 others in Syria.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden said, “While we are still gathering facts about this attack, we know that it was carried out by extremist armed groups supported by Iran operating in Syria and Iraq.”
Biden added, “There is no doubt that we will hold all those responsible (for the attack) accountable at the time (that suits us) and in the manner we choose.”
Leaders in the region are warning against expanding the circle of violence, and the American newspaper quoted Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani as saying – in a discussion at the Atlantic Council on Monday during his visit to Washington – that the situation is “boiling here and there,” indicating that the repercussions of the Israeli war The ongoing conflict in Gaza (could) undermine regional security, and even jeopardize the difficult goal of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, stressing that the State of Qatar is trying to help.
However, whatever concerns there may be about the worsening fire spiral, hawkish members of Congress from the Republican Party have called for an escalation of the confrontation with Iran, as the Washington Post article put it.
Some of them even want the United States to strike targets inside Iranian territory. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said that any response short of retaliatory military strikes against Iranian “terrorist” forces, whether in Iran or the Middle East, “will confirm that Biden is a coward and does not deserve to be commander-in-chief.”
Political analysts believe – as the writer says – that the United States may continue its “surgical” strikes on targets linked to Iran outside its territory.
