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The US said the attack lasted 30 minutes, hitting 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the Iraqi parliament passed a bill recognizing the PMU as a government entity operating alongside the Iraqi military. A screengrab from a video, geolocated by CNN to the town of Qaim, Iraq, shows the aftermath of US military strikes in the area, according to the Iraqi Military. Iraq and Syria condemned the US attack as infringements on their sovereignty that risk fueling regional conflict. “The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” Biden said in a statement Friday, following the strikes on Iraq and Syria.

Persons: Joe Biden, –, Biden, Kennedy Ladon Sanders, Sanders, Matt Rourke, Qaim, Turki Al, John Kirby, Washington, ”, SANA, Kirby, Douglas Sims, “, Mike Johnson, ” Johnson, Jack Reed, Lloyd Austin, ” Biden, Charles Lister, ” Lister, Ebrahim Raisi Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Army, US Army, Dover Air Force Base, House, Hezbollah, Al, US National Security, Syrian, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iraq’s Armed Forces, United Nations Charter, Republican, Senate Armed, US, Coalition Forces, Austin, Middle East Institute, Iraq Locations: United States, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Delaware, Iraqi, Al, ” Syria’s, Deir Ezzor, Gen, Qaim, ” Syria, Washington ,, Tehran

☆ Widening Mideast Crisis U.S. Blames Iran-Backed Militia for Deaths of 3 Soldiers in Jordan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The attack happened at a remote logistics outpost in northeast Jordan called Tower 22 where the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan converge. The Pentagon declined to identify the service members who died or their units pending notification of family members. Central Command said it expected the number of injured to “fluctuate” as additional service members sought treatment. It was the latest in at least 164 strikes by Iran-backed militias against U.S. troops in Syria, Iraq and Jordan since the Oct. 7 attacks. It turned out to be a dud, but several service members would most likely have been injured or killed had it exploded, a senior military official said.

Persons: Biden, —, Mr, “, ”, Lloyd J, Austin III, ” Mr, Austin, Yemen —, Gen, Charles Q, Brown Jr, General Brown, Al, Charles Lister, Jordan, Al Tanf, Syria’s, Roger Wicker of Organizations: U.S, Hamas, ”, Pentagon, Command, Central Command, Resistance, Hezbollah, Joint Chiefs of Staff, ABC, Navy, Sunday, Army, Air Force, United, Operations, Middle East Institute, American, Troops, The Defense Department, Al Asad, Al Asad Air Base, Congressional Republicans, Republican, Armed Services Committee Locations: Jordan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, U.S, Israel, Columbia, United States, Lebanese, Yemen, Aden, Gaza, Erbil, Red, Al Tanf, Islamic State, Azraq, Washington, Jordanian, Baghdad, Damascus, Tehran, Lebanon, Al, Al Asad Air, Roger Wicker of Mississippi

☆ Political Pressure Builds on Biden to Strike Iran After US Deaths
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

That allowed Biden the political space to mete out U.S. retaliation, inflicting costs on Iran-backed forces without risking a direct war with Tehran. Republicans accused Biden of letting American forces become sitting ducks, waiting for the day when a drone or missile would evade base defenses. In response, they say Biden must strike Iran. "The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East." "Unless the U.S. prepared for an all out war, what does attacking Iran get us," the official said.

Persons: Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali WASHINGTON, Joe Biden, he's, Biden, Tom Cotton, Mike Rogers, they've, Rogers, Donald Trump, Joe Biden's, Barbara Lee, Seth Moulton, —, Moulton, Jonathan Lord, Lord, Charles Lister, Lister, Israel, Qassem Soleimani, Simon Lewis, Paul Thomasch, Diane Craft Organizations: Republican U.S, Republican, U.S, Representatives, Tehran, Biden, Democratic, Iranian, Center, New, East Institute, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, United, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Locations: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Israel, Jordan's, Tehran, United States, Gaza, New American, Washington, U.S, Damascus, Jan

Mr. Biden has been planning to use the visit to show solidarity with America’s closest ally in the Middle East and to urge Israel to avoid civilian casualties. “The timing and optics of such a significant visit couldn’t be any worse,” said Charles Lister, the director of counterterrorism at the Middle East Institute. “Whatever the circumstances behind this strike at the hospital in Gaza, it doesn’t really matter at this point. They also said he believed an in-person visit could help him better understand Israel’s strategy as a ground invasion of Gaza loomed. “The failure to have an actual major strategy, I think, is the long-term biggest risk here,” Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Program, said in an interview.

Persons: Biden, ”, Charles Lister, we’ve, Mr, ” Jonathan Panikoff, ” John F, Kirby Organizations: Middle East Institute, Security Initiative, NBC’s Locations: Israel, Gaza, U.S

☆ Israel Gaza war: How goes Hamas get its weapons? A mix of ingenuity, tenacity, resourcefulness and a key mentor, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images/FILEThe Iran factor“Hamas acquires its weapons through smuggling or local construction and receives some military support from Iran,” the CIA’s World Factbook says. Video Ad Feedback Retired general explains why he thinks Iran helped support Hamas attacks 01:08 - Source: CNNBut Iran has been a mentor, too, analysts say. A senior Hamas official based in Lebanon gave details of the Hamas’ weapons manufacturing in an edited interview with Russia Today’s Arabic-news channel RTArabic published on their website on Sunday. And Tehran keeps the training of Hamas’ weapons makers current, he added. Gaza has none of the heavy industry that would support weapons production in most of the world.

Persons: It’s, –, Said Khatib, ”, Bilal Saab, Daniel Byman, Charles Lister, Byman, “, ” Ali Baraka, Mahmud Hams, Lister, ” Lister, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, what’s, Alkhatib, Aaron Pilkington, Baraka, ” Pilkington Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Brigades, Getty, ’, Defense and Security, Middle East Institute, Transnational, Center for Strategic, International Studies, MEI, CSIS, Hamas National Relations, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas ’, CIA, Washington Institute for Near, Fikra, US Air Force, Middle, University of Denver Locations: Israel, Gaza, Egypt, Palestinian, AFP, Iran, Islamic Republic, Hamas, Washington, “ Iran, Lebanon, Russia, Kalashnikovs, Tehran, Iran’s, Saudi

☆ Rare protests flare in regime-held Syria as Assad seeks international rehabilitation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The protests, which are taking place in areas governed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, have so far shown no signs of abating. The Druze are Syria’s third largest religious minority making up 3% to 4% of the country’s population, according to Minority Rights Group International. While the largest protests are clustered around al-Sir Square in Suwayda city, other, smaller ones are scattered across the governorate, Marouf said. “If protests spread deeper into regime territories, those chances (of violent crackdown) will surge.”All eyes are on Assad’s next moves. If Assad attends, it would be his first appearance on the world stage since the start of the civil war in 2011.

Persons: Bashar al, disgruntlement, Assad, haven’t, ”, Charles Lister, ” Lister, “ Long, ” Rayan Marouf, Marouf, “, ” Marouf, Hafez, Syria’s, Geir Pedersen, Pedersen Organizations: CNN, Group, Middle East Institute, UN, Arab League, Sir, UN Security Council, Sky News, ISIS, Security, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: Syria’s, Syria, Washington , DC, Russia, Iran, Suwayda governorate, Suwayda, Jaramana, Damascus, “, Idlib, Aleppo, United Arab, Dubai

☆ The US military thought it killed a senior Al Qaeda leader in a drone strike, but some officials are now saying they may have made a mistake: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

US Central Command said in a press release that the target was a "senior Al Qaeda leader." Two US military officials told The Washington Post that the strike did not kill the intended target. The US Central Command released a brief statement on May 3, claiming it had conducted a "unilateral strike in Northwest Syria targeting a senior Al Qaeda leader." The experts added that it's unlikely that a senior Al Qaeda figure would be operating in the area of the strike. Central Command spokesperson Michael Lawhorn told the Post that officials are aware of reports of civilian casualty.

☆ For Syrian refugees, Assad’s rehabilitation prompts fear of forced return
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

According to a 2022 UNHCR poll of Syrian refugees living in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, only 1.7% said they would return to Syria in the next 12 months. Even before Arab normalization with the Assad regime began, human rights organizations had repeatedly warned that Syrian refugees risked facing forced returns home amid concerns for their safety. Earlier this year, Denmark – which hosts more than 35,000 Syrian refugees – deemed more areas controlled by the Assad regime to be safe for return. “The further normalization goes, the deeper the pressure will be.”Alshogre worries for himself as well as other Syrian refugees. “If I am sent back to Syria, I will be cut into small pieces by the Syrian regime; I won’t make it out of the airport in Damascus.”

☆ Arab nations set to rehabilitate Syria’s pariah president in defiance of US
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Officials and analysts have said that Syria’s re-admission into the Arab League, while symbolic, comes with the hope that it could pave the way for President Bashar Al Assad’s rehabilitation internationally, and potentially the removal of crippling sanctions against his regime. Arab states have argued that the status quo in Syria is untenable and has caused them a headache at home. Syria has over the past decade turned into a narco-state, exporting highly addictive amphetamines across the border to Jordan and to Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear if the US will stand in the way of Arab states’ efforts to bring Syria back into the regional fold. “The US will not impose a veto on their allies when it comes to normalization with Assad,” said Hellyer.

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