Resumption of Iran-backed Attacks Against U.S. Troops After Israeli Operations

While Jerusalem and Washington wait for an Iranian and/or Hezbollah attack against Israel fol-lowing the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, it appears that Iran has already started to retaliate against U.S. troops in the region. Iranian proxies have launched three attacks in August against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, as they previously have after Israeli military operations. There were also five attacks against U.S. troops in July, although likely for a different reason. These eight Iran-backed attacks in four weeks injured 15 U.S. troops and contractors.

This resumption of attacks after five months of almost complete calm suggests that the deterrent effect of previous U.S. strikes on the leadership of Iranian proxies has worn off. Tehran again appears to believe that it can use attacks against U.S. troops to force Washington to exert pres-sure on Jerusalem, without risking any consequences itself. The United States should respond with stronger, faster, and more frequent military force against Iranian (not just Iran-linked) targets that endanger U.S. personnel or American partners in the region.

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