Orientul Mijlociu

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that at 9:30 p.m. (Baghdad time) its forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on U.S. service members, killing an Iran-backed Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.[1] Media sources affiliated with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq reported that several operatives from the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) were killed, including a senior leaders of the Hizbullah Brigades (which is part of the PMU) Wisam Muhammad Saber aka Abu Baqir Al-Sa’idi and also an official by the name of Hajj Arkan Al-‘Alyawi.[2]

In a February 4, 2024 interview on Fox News, former U.S. President Donald Trump said that in January 2020, Iran had informed his administration of its intention to attack the Ain Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq but without causing casualties. The attack was to be a response to the U.S. killing of IRGC Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020.

Iran has long backed a network of armed groups in the Middle East to advance its regional interests. These groups, which include U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and which sometimes style themselves the “Axis of Resistance,” have conducted attacks on U.S., Israeli, and other targets for years. The number, pace, and scope of such attacks have surged since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel from Gaza and in the context of the subsequent Israel-Hamas war.

Given that the U.S. presence is vital for the survival of the AANES, the prospect of withdrawal leaves the entire issue uncertain Akil Mahfouz writes in Athr Press.

Iran aims to reinforce its forces in its areas of presence in Syria, according to Baladi News.

Informed sources have disclosed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard militias have withdrawn thousands of Syrian members affiliated with them from the Aleppo governorate. These members were relocated to positions in the governorates of Hama, Deir-ez-Zor, and Homs.

Iranian religious scholar Hamed Jadidi, a member of the Esfahan Basij cultural-social network said that Iran will “inshallah” conquer Saudi Arabia soon in a January 30, 2024 event in preparation for the upcoming elections, which was aired on IRINN TV (Iran). He said that Saudi Arabia is collaborating with the Zionists and that it asked China to mediate between it and Iran so the Houthis in Yemen wouldn’t attack them. Jadidi continued to claim that the Zionists orchestrated the coronavirus “super-project” so people would take the “Zionist vaccine,” like Pfizer, and implant nanochips into their body. He further explained that these nanochips would be activated through 5G networks and artificial intelligence, and this way the Zionists would have control over human beings.

A commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq that the Pentagon has blamed for attacking its troops, was killed in a U.S. strike on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.

“(U.S.) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on U.S. service members, killing a Kataib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region,” a statement from the military said. It did not name the commander, Reuters reported.

The US-Iranian escalation has taken a new turn when Washington announced strikes on command and control centers, intelligence facilities, and weapon storage facilities used by Iran-backed militias to attack American forces and the International Coalition.

Through a series of attacks, the United States targeted 85 locations in Syria and Iraq, in response to the killing of its soldiers by shelling for which Iran was accused of being involved.

On February 2, 2024, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that its forces had conducted airstrikes earlier that day against over 85 targets of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militias, including command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rocket, missile, and unmanned aerial vehicle storage sites, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities.[1]

On February 3, 2024, the Houthi-run Yemen War Media Telegram channel posted a 44-minute video depicting a military exercise carried out by units from “reserve and central intervention forces” of the Yemeni armed forces. The video was titled, “Yemen is the Support of Palestine.” The exercise simulated attacks on American, British, and Israeli positions and the takeover of bases and “settlements of the Zionist enemy,” that were similar to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The drill, which was also broadcast live on The Houthis’ Al-masirah TV channel, was held in the context of the preparations of the Houthi forces for “the battle of the assured victory and the holy jihad,” and as assistance for Al-Aqsa Flood.[1]