By: Sydney Umstead, News Editor
The New York Times reported on Nov. 8 that as of two weeks ago, the United States began deploying air strikes against a space occupied by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The journalists covering the story reported that the Thursday strike followed “retaliation for a steady stream of rocket and drone attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria.” Furthermore, “Not only have the attacks continued — there have been at least 22 more since the American retaliatory strikes last month — but Pentagon officials said they have become more dangerous.”
Following this updating issue, the Biden administration has placed the blame for these events on “Iran or its proxies in Syria and Iraq.”
The drone warfare has continued consisting of Iran-backed militias dropping more than 80 pounds of explosives onto American bases. Defense Secretary Llyod J. Austin III is quoted in the article as stating, “This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by I.R.G.C.-Quds Force affiliates.” Austin continued, “The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities.”
The developing tensions stem from a series of issues that have been underway. On Wednesday, the Pentagon stated that the MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone had been shot down by Houthi rebels. The New York Times reported this drone as being “the mainstay of the American military’s aerial surveillance fleet.” The act of shooting it down has been regarded by The Times as “another escalation of violence between the United States and Iran-backed groups in the region.”
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