The White House emphasizes that Washington “will not allow” that “any threat” to its interests in the region “go unanswered”
The White House has indicated that Iran “actively facilitates” the attacks carried out in recent days by pro-Iran militias against military bases of the international coalition led by the United States in Iraq and Syria.
“We know that these groups are supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its regime. We know that Iran continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
“We know that Iran is closely following these events and that, in some cases, it actively facilitates these attacks and encourages others who want to exploit the conflict for their benefit or for that of Iran,” he stressed.
Thus, Kirby has stressed that the United States “knows that Iran’s objective is to maintain a certain level of denial (about its responsibility), but it is not going to be allowed to do that.” “Nor will any threat to our interests in the region be allowed to go unanswered,” she concluded.
Along these lines, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said that Washington “is concerned about the increase in attacks by groups linked to Iran in the region, whether attacks against US interests or against other interests in the region”.
“We hold Iran responsible for these attacks,” he stressed, before clarifying that he is not accusing Tehran of “directing” these attacks. “Whether they direct them or not, they are militias that they have fostered and for which they are responsible,” she argued during her daily press conference.
For his part, a senior State Department official has pointed out in statements given to the American television network CNN that the United States and its partners “are on the same page about sending a clear message to Iran” that “it should not try to take advantage of the situation.”
“Groups that are under its control or influence should not try to take advantage of this either,” and if Tehran does, “it could have escalating and dire consequences,” he said. “It is not just a message from the United States, it is a shared message,” she stressed.
During the last two weeks there have been several attacks against military facilities used by the United States and the international coalition, claimed by militias backed by Iran who claim to be acting in response to Israel’s bombings against Gaza following the attacks carried out on October 7 by of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani on Monday called on security agencies to “pursue the elements responsible for these attacks” and stressed that the Iraqi government “condemns the Zionist aggression” against the Gaza Strip and “calls for an end to the tragic conditions suffered by Palestinian brothers because of this aggression.”
The Israeli Army’s bombings against Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7 – which left nearly 1,400 dead and more than 220 kidnapped – have left more than 5,000 Palestinians dead – including more than 2,000 children. – and around 14,000 injured, according to the authorities of the enclave, controlled by the Islamist group.
