Iran Proxies Continue Attacks Despite US Airstrikes
Armed groups backed by Iran have carried out at least two strikes on American forces since Friday, when the United States hit dozens of Iran-related targets in Syria and Iraq.
Armed groups backed by Iran have carried out at least two strikes on American forces since Friday, when the United States hit dozens of Iran-related targets in Syria and Iraq.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed in a press briefing Monday that two attacks had taken place in Syria and that there had been no casualties. He also suggested that the Pentagon expects Iran's proxy groups to continue their targeting of American forces in spite of the February 3rd US airstrikes.
In the meantime, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they fired naval missiles at two ships, Star Nasia and Morning Tide, in the Red Sea.
The group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech that they were US and British ships, but records from shipping trackers show they are flagged to the Marshall Islands and Barbados.
The US air campaign against targets in Syria and Iraq was authorized in response to the drone attack on January 28 that resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers and injuries to 40 others at a US base in Jordan. President Joe Biden and his team heavily publicized it both domestically, as evidence of their resolve, and internationally, as a deterrent against such attacks. As things stand, it is hard to say if the administration achieved these two goals.
At home, pressure is still mounting. Biden critics are by no means satisfied with his shot at ‘retaliation’. They accuse him of giving Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) enough time and clues to disperse and avoid a bloodied nose. And abroad, the message from Iran is clear: we had no presence or interest in the sites targeted –if we had, we would have hit back.
Ryder confirmed in his briefing that no Iranians were killed in the US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in the early hours of Saturday local time. “CENTCOM is continuing to assess but initial indications are: we’re not aware of any Iranians killed,” he said.
What irked the critics was Maj. Gen. Ryder's remark that the administration doesn’t want a long-term campaign against Iran's military and associated proxy groups in Iraq and Syria. This apparently contradicts statements in the past ten days that the US is not done with those groups and will continue to target them.
“Our goal is not to… go full-scale war against Iranian proxy groups in Iraq and Syria,” Ryder said. “That’s not what we’re there for. We’re there to conduct the mission and support the defeat of [the Islamic State].”
Critics of the Biden administration say that such messaging is counterproductive as it signals “weakness”, which emboldens Iran and its proxies to be more adventurous, ultimately forcing the US to target IRGC or other regime assets directly, which, ironically, is what President Biden seems determined to avoid at all costs.
“I think you need a decisive strike, just like Trump did with Soleimani,” the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul told Fox News Monday. “They took Soleimani out and guess what, Iran backed down.”
Rep. McCaul also said that the retaliatory strikes last Friday were not satisfactory, contrary to what Ryder said in his briefing. “The targets may have been good,” McCaul said, “but the success was not.”
Officials from the Biden administration have repeatedly said that the airstrikes on IRGC-affiliated targets in Iraq and Syria were just the beginning, and that there’s more to come. But there seems to be a growing concern in Washington that even a string of attacks would fail to deter Iran –unless it hits “what matters to the Ayatollah.”
A Wall Street Journal editorial Tuesday drew a bleak picture, taking into account Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“President Biden’s retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria on the weekend were targeted to avoid hitting Iranians to avoid escalation,” the WSJ editorial reads,. “Imagine the restraints on the U.S. when Iran has nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them against U.S. allies or the U.S. homeland.”
“I don’t know about the matter you are referring to,” Naser Kanaani said when asked by a reporter Monday at his weekly press briefing about “an American national’s visit” to Iran. “American citizens are not prohibited from traveling to Iran,” he said.
Wright's visit to Iran last week ignited a firestorm on Iranian social media. Some social media users have alleged that authorities either invited or facilitated her visit due to her outspoken anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian stances. She further stirred controversy by sharing photos of herself wearing a full hijab, in compliance with Iran's dress code for women, and asserting that Iran is safe "if you follow the rules."
The 32-year-old pornographic actress and erotic model, born in Oklahoma with mixed Welsh and Native American heritage, is known for her strong support of Palestine and vocal anti-Israeli sentiments.
Critics argue that Wright's claim of Iran's safety ignores the fact that not only is pornography banned in Iran, with severe penalties for those involved in its production, but ordinary Iranian women also face humiliation and arrest for not adhering to the country's strict dress code.
In 2018, Iranian web designer Saeed Malekpour, based in Canada, was arrested during a visit to Iran and subsequently sentenced to death for his involvement in designing and moderating pornographic websites. Malekpour, who later managed to flee Iran, maintained that he had no knowledge that his software could be used for sharing pornography.
The Tasnim news agency, linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), quoted "an informed source" on Monday, stating that Wright had not been invited to Iran by any government entity. According to the source, she traveled to Iran privately after obtaining a visa, and visa authorities were unaware of the nature of her profession.
Tasnim also claimed that Wright's visits to locations such as the former American embassy compound in Tehran and the Golestan Palace were entirely her own initiatives and conducted privately.
One of Wright's posts featured her posing beside a lowered American flag at the former US embassy compound in Tehran. In another post, she stood beside a Statue of Liberty, behind which a mural depicted the statue's face as a skeleton on the wall.
Additionally, her posts included a photo of a wall adorned with images of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC's extra-territorial forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militant leader, and Muslim "revolutionaries" from various countries, including Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. This photo appears to have been taken at the former US embassy building.
Wright expressed disappointment in her post that images of Palestinian revolutionaries were not included in the display.
The embassy compound was seized by revolutionary students in 1979, who held embassy staff hostage for 444 days. The Basij militia organization, affiliated with the IRGC, has been stationed at the former US embassy compound in Tehran since 2018.
In response to criticism, Wright disabled comments on her posts and defended her actions, stating, "Posting photos of my trip to Iran now means I'm pushing Iranian propaganda? I'm sharing exhibits from a museum that are rarely seen. It's not an endorsement of the government." She later removed the photos and videos taken in Iran from her social media platforms following reports by numerous Iranian users.
Khamenei has been sounding increasingly concerned about his regime's legitimacy and influence over the population following mass anti-regime protests in 2022-2023. The October 7 Hamas invasion of Israel and the ensuing war has further challenged the regime’s ability to ease Iran’s economic crisis.
In his latest speech on Monday, one week before the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, Khamenei brought up the issue of his regime's authority, the decline in support for the Islamic ideology, and the expected low turnout in the March 1 election, as a barometer of the people's support for the regime.
The keywords in his speech were authority, the February 11 revolution rally, and a high-turnout election. Although it was not the first time he used those keywords during the past year, but every time he has sounded weaker and more worried.
He also has deep concerns about his own security after the January 3 terrorist attack in Kerman that killed 95 people and was claimed by the ISIS branch in Afghanistan. The serious security breach makes the February 11 rally more of a threat than an opportunity to garner popular support. The regime even ignored a US warning, delivered privately, which could have saved all the lives lost.
Khamenei's sense of insecurity during recent weeks has been so serious that instead of going to places such as an industrial fair and the agricultural market in Tehran, he had the fair and the market brought to his residence where he reviewed his regime's "achievements" in his fortified underground.
During his Monday speech, Khamenei expressed concerns about insiders and elites, reviving his fears about their loyalty and raising alarms about potential foreign infiltration among his staff. His disconcerted demeanor during the speech became evident when, recounting a pre-revolution visit by the Iranian imperial air force to Ayatollah Khomeini, he praised the country's air force, oblivious to the fact that the imperial air force no longer exists. Its US-made aircraft are over 50 years old, and its few Russian-made jets frequently crash during training flights.
What remains in terms of military power is an aerospace force that develops and launches missiles at neighboring countries. Ironically, this strategy creates more trouble and insecurity than it does project power and authority. Khamenei also praised the Shah's air force for its officers' interactions with Khomeini, claiming that these interactions helped pave the way for the victory of the Islamic revolution.
Since October 7, Khamenei's departure from his hardline revolutionary stance has diminished his standing among his fervent supporters in Iran. As he abandoned his proxy groups in Gaza, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, he lost the support he had hoped to gain in the Middle East. He not only renounced his previous boasts about the Resistance Movement but also urged proxy groups to distance themselves from Tehran. Consequently, figures like Lebanese Hezbollah Leader Hasan Nasrallah, who once asserted that everything Hezbollah possessed came from the Islamic Republic, now vehemently deny any association with Tehran. Iraqi groups have similarly disavowed links to the Islamic Republic under pressure from Tehran.
Furthermore, Khamenei called on academics, students, politicians, businessmen, members of the press, and military personnel to distance themselves from perceived enemies. Ironically, this plea comes as hardline clerics routinely accuse academics, journalists, and entrepreneurs of being spies and agents of the enemy.
Khamenei's emphasis on dividing insiders from outsiders is underscored by the recent arrests, and possibly executions, of at least two of his high-ranking insiders—an intelligence minister and an IRGC intelligence chief—on charges of espionage for Israel.