Keyvan Khosravi, an Iranian security spokesperson, warned on Saturday that US attacks on pro-Iranian bases in Syria would be met with an “immediate counter-response.”
President Joe Biden said during a state visit to Canada on Friday that the United States would respond “forcefully” to protect Americans, stressing that the United States “does not seek conflict with Iran but is prepared to act forcefully to protect our people,” adding: “That’s exactly what happened last night.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, American air raids on pro-Iran bases in recent days killed three Syrian soldiers, 11 Syrian pro-Iranian militias, and five pro-government foreign fighters.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the continued “illegal” presence of the US military in Syria, the occupation of parts of that country, as well as attacks on different targets there, violate international law and Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Meanwhile, on Saturday more than 20 rockets were reportedly fired against two US bases in eastern Syria.
Khosravi announced that “any pretext to attack bases created at the request of the Syrian government to deal with terrorism and Islamic State elements in this country will be met with an immediate counter-response.”
The latest round of military escalation between the International Coalition and Iranian-backed militias started when a drone of the pro-Iranian militias attacked the Coalition’s base of Kharab Al-Jir in Al-Hasakah on Thursday, killing a US contractor man and injuring five US soldiers.
The Coalition reacted with a round of airstrikes in the early hours of Friday morning, targeting weapons and ammunition warehouses in Deir Ezzor and other positions, inflicting heavy losses.
Following the airstrikes, Iranian-backed militias evacuated major headquarters in the targeted areas and moved to fortified positions in the desert, before the Iranian-backed militias fired a rocket at the Al-Omar oil field. The rocket missed its target, hitting instead a home in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.
On Saturday evening, Iranian-backed militias fired several rockets on the Coalition’s base in the Koniko natural gas field outside Deir Ezzor, and the Coalition responded with airstrikes on pro-Iranian positions in the city of Deir Ezzor.
