The US military said Wednesday that three US service members in Syria were wounded in two separate rocket attacks by suspected Iran-backed militants.
The latest attacks on US personnel linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard came hours after the US military launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed groups in eastern Syria.
According to CENTCOM, the US military strikes were in response to an August 15 attack against US personnel by Iran-backed groups. Tehran publicly denied any involvement with the groups on Wednesday.
The attacks came as US, European and Iranian officials held talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which then-President Trump withdrew from the US – and the Pentagon on Wednesday against threats from militias backed by Tehran.
In the first strikes, several rockets landed inside the perimeter of the mission support site Conoco in northeastern Syria at about 7:20 a.m., according to a statement from the US Central Command. According to CENTCOM, additional rockets “landed in the vicinity of Mission Support Site Green Village” shortly thereafter.
“A US service member at Mission Support Site Conoco was treated for minor injuries and has been returned to duty, two others are being evaluated for minor injuries”. The US military used attack helicopters to respond to the attack, “some destroying three vehicles and equipment used to launch the rockets,” CENTCOM said. “Preliminary assessments indicate that two or three suspected Iran-backed terrorists who may have been organizing an attack were killed during the US response.”
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said during a briefing on Wednesday that US military strikes in eastern Syria “remove our commitment to back down against Iran’s support for terrorism, extremism and the actions they are taking against our people.” interrupted.” Wherever we reach a nuclear deal, whether in the region or elsewhere, we do not engage in it.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani denied in a statement that Tehran was linked to groups the US had targeted in Syria and the US military’s “aggression against the Syrian people and infrastructure”.