The Pentagon announced on Nov. 8 that it had carried out strikes against “a facility” in Syria allegedly used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “This strike was conducted by two U.S. F-15s against a weapons storage facility,” read the Pentagon statement, attributed to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
“This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by IRGC-Quds Force affiliates…. The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. We urge against any escalation. U.S. personnel will continue to conduct counter-ISIS missions in Iraq and Syria,” the statement said.
In New York, Iran’s envoy to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani transmitted a letter to UN Secretary General António Guterres and the President of the UN Security Council Zhang Jun, denying that Iran was targeting U.S. forces in Syria. It was sent in response to an Oct. 30 letter from the U.S. “in which unproven and unfounded claims were made against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
