The Washington Post, in an analysis published on July 1, came to the conclusion that what the Biden Administration has done with regard to not only the June 27 airstrikes, but also its first strikes in Iraq and Syria in February, is lowering the bar for retaliation below that of the Trump Administration’s. According to the Post, the rules of engagement in effect under President Donald Trump called for lethal retaliation in the event that U.S. personnel were killed in an attack. Now, the policy is deadly retaliation regardless of whether any U.S. troops are killed or injured. “We have a responsibility to demonstrate that attacking Americans carries consequences, and that is true whether or not those attacks inflict casualties,” an unnamed senior administration official told the Post.
The Iranians are rejecting U.S. claims that Iran is behind the recent armed attacks on the U.S. military in Iraq. Iranian Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht Ravanchi went so far as to charge that the U.S. actions were a violation of the UN Charter. “Iran condemns, in the strongest terms, such unlawful acts which violate the sovereignty of two regional countries,” he said in a letter to UN Security Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France). “I am writing to you regarding the letter dated 29 June 2021 from the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council, in which, once again, unsubstantiated allegations were levelled against the Islamic Republic of Iran on supporting the so-called militia groups in Iraq,” Takht Ravanchi stated, reported Tasnim.
