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The United States carried out a series of airstrikes on Iranian-allied targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for an attack that killed a US soldier in Jordan.
On Saturday, Iraq announced 16 people were killed in the country, including civilians, and monitoring groups reported 18 deaths in Syria as well.
The US government has warned of further attacks allegedly aimed at stopping the Iranian-backed Axis of Resistance amid Israel’s war in Gaza. US President Joe Biden said in announcing the overnight attack: “Our response began today. It will continue at a time and place of our choosing.”
Here’s how the world reacts to US actions:
Iran
“The attack is a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria, international law, and a clear violation of the United Nations Charter,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Qanani said.
“In addition to the full support of the United States against the Zionist regime’s four months of relentless and barbaric attacks on the population of Gaza and the West Bank, its military offensive against Yemen, and its violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, The attacks on Syria and Iraq are another adventurous move by the US government and a strategic mistake that will have no effect other than intensifying regional tensions and instability.
“The attacks only support the goals of the Zionist regime. Such attacks increase the US government’s involvement in the region and overshadow the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza.”
Iraq
The Iraqi government said in a statement that “this aggressive attack will put Iraq and the region’s security on the brink of abyss,” calling the US claim that it was coordinating air strikes with Baghdad “false.” The statement was denied as being intended to mislead international public opinion. opinion”.
A statement from the office of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani said the presence of the US-led military coalition in the region “provides a reason to threaten Iraq’s security and stability and does not serve as a justification for involving Iraq in regional or international conflicts.” It is written as “It became.”
“Iraq reiterates its refusal to use the country as a venue for settlement,” government spokesman Basim al-Wadi said.
Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasul said the attack was “a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, a threat that threatens to undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government and lead to dire consequences for Iraq and the region.” .
“The outcome will have serious implications for the security and stability of Iraq and the surrounding region,” Rasul added.
Syria
The Foreign Ministry said the airstrike had served to “intensify the conflict in the Middle East in an extremely dangerous way,” adding to Washington’s “record of violations of Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and people’s security. We have once again proven the following.” It is the main cause of global instability. ”
“The areas targeted by the US offensive in eastern Syria are the same areas where the Syrian Arab Army is fighting Daesh remnants,” the military said. [ISIL] This confirms that the United States and its military are involved and allied with this organization and are working by all dirty means to reinstate it as a field force in both Syria and Iraq. be. ”
“The American occupation forces’ attack in the early hours of today has no justification other than an attempt to undermine the capabilities of the Syrian Arab people.
The military and its allies in the field of fighting terrorism, but the military. ”
Islamic resistance movement in Iraq
Iraq’s US-Israeli opposition coalition, which “ceases” attacks earlier this week, said it had launched a drone at a US military base in Erbil.
Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed reported from Baghdad that the Iraqi group also carried out missile attacks targeting the al-Tanf military base in Syria where US soldiers are stationed and the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq.
Hamas
“We condemn in the strongest terms the American aggression in Iraq and Syria, which we consider a dangerous escalation, a violation of the sovereignty of two Arab states, and a threat to their security and regional stability. “It is covering up the occupation forces’ expansionist agenda and horrific crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” the Hamas statement said.
“The Biden administration is responsible for the consequences of the brutal invasions of both Iraq and Syria that add fuel to the fire, and we believe that only by deterring Zionist aggression and criminal activity can we ensure stability and peace in the region. End the genocide and ethnic cleansing of our people and the Zionist and Nazi occupation of the Gaza Strip. ”
hezbollah
“Hezbollah strongly condemns America’s blatant aggression against Iraq and Syria. What the United States has done is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of both countries, an attack on their security and territorial integrity, and violates all international law. This is a shameful violation of humanitarian law,” the Lebanese group said in a statement.
Russia
“It is clear that the airstrike is deliberately planned to further escalate the conflict,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. She said: “The United States is deliberately pushing the region’s largest country into conflict through near-constant attacks on the facilities of allegedly pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Syria.”
Russia also called an “emergency” meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the U.S. attack.
“We have just called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the threat to peace and security posed by the US attacks on Syria and Iraq,” the Russian government’s UN diplomat, Dmitry Polyansky, said on social media on Saturday. .
european union
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said: “Everyone should try to avoid an explosive situation.”
Borrell did not directly mention the U.S. attack, but repeatedly warned that the Middle East was “a boiler that could explode.”
He pointed to the war in Gaza, violence along the Israel-Lebanon border, bombings in Iraq and Syria, and attacks on ships in the Red Sea. “That is why we call on everyone to avoid escalation.”
England
“The UK and the US are steadfast allies. While we do not comment on their operations, we support their right to respond to attacks,” a British government spokesperson said in a statement.
“We have long condemned Iran’s destabilizing activities throughout the region, including its political, financial, and military support for many extremist organizations.”
Poland
“Iran’s proxies have been playing with fire for months and years, and now they are We’re burning it down,” he said.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson accused Mr Biden of “appeasing” Iran after the airstrike and said: “The United States must step up to promote peace.”
Council on American-Islamic Relations
“Instead of waging war across the Middle East, the Biden administration should demand an end to the far-right Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Gaza Strip,” said CAIR National Director Nihad Awad.
Nihad said the US is ignoring Israel’s “escalating human rights abuses,” stationing troops in Syria, Iraq and other “unwelcome places,” and refusing to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. .
“The recent attacks in Iraq and Syria are just further evidence of the complete failure of the president’s Middle East policy. President Biden should pivot to protect both U.S. troops and local residents from further violence… Justice and freedom for the Palestinian people, not more bombs, can build a more peaceful future for the region.”
Analyst
Trita Parsi, deputy director of the Quincy Institute for Responsible States and Strategy, questioned the effectiveness of the U.S. bombing.
“The objective is to reduce their ability to attack for longer periods of time, at the risk of provoking a regional war. This is ultimately a suboptimal strategy. Reduce their interest in attacking the United States.” “The most effective way to shift the attention of these militias is through a ceasefire in Gaza,” Parsi said.
“There is no escaping this reality. Unless tensions are reduced in Gaza, there is no chance that tensions will be reduced, no matter what happens in the region. Unfortunately, Biden’s approach so far has been It avoided applying material pressure for a ceasefire.”
Joshua Landis, an associate professor and director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told Al Jazeera that politicians in Washington are pushing for a stronger response from Biden as the US presidential election approaches.
“He has to respond, but at the same time he has made it clear that he does not want to escalate. This has two meanings: he can attack Syrians, it is easy and no one wants to Americans care about the Iraqi government.”
“America doesn’t want to be expelled from Iraq, especially not before the November elections. I mean, Japan wants to be strong, but it doesn’t want to kill too many Iraqis.” It is not.”
HA Hellyer, a military analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based think tank, told Al Jazeera that if the US wants to end the war with Iran and reduce tensions, the key lies in Gaza. he added.
Washington has “failed to use any practical influence to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, which would have really de-escalated tensions in the region and provided fuel for this kind of escalation that is likely to continue in the coming days.” “I think we can get rid of it for a few weeks and beyond,” he said.
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