White House communications official John Kirby said on Monday that Iran is “actively facilitating” rocket and drone attacks by Shiite militias against bases housing American troops in Iraq and Syria.
Kirby said the White House has noted “an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups against military bases housing U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria” since Israel commenced its response to the savage Hamas attack of October 7.
“We’re deeply concerned about the potential for any significant escalation of these attacks in the days ahead,” he said.
Kirby said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is known to support the attacking militia forces in Iraq and Syria.
“We know that Iran is closely monitoring these events, and in some cases, actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good or for that of Iran,” he stated.
“We know Iran’s goal is to maintain some level of deniability here, but we’re not going to allow them to do that. We also are not going to allow any threat to our interests in the region to go unchallenged,” he promised.
Kirby pointed to a U.S. warship in the Red Sea intercepting missiles fired by the Tehran-backed Yemeni Houthi terrorist group last Thursday as a demonstration of U.S. military capabilities in the region. President Joe Biden’s State Department bizarrely removed the Houthis from the official list of U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations in the first few months of Biden’s presidency.
In response to a follow-up question, Kirby said the IRGC provides funding, munitions, and training for its proxy militias in Iraq and Syria. He maintained the White House position that Iran was involved in planning and executing the October 7 atrocity against Israeli civilians but offered no new intelligence to support that assertion.
Iran-supported Shiite militia groups in Iraq and Syria have launched rockets and drones against bases housing American personnel almost a dozen times over the past two weeks.
In statements made under the umbrella name “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” the militias have claimed their attacks inflicted more damage and casualties than U.S. officials are prepared to admit. The Pentagon has stated the militia drones were intercepted, and their rockets caused only minor damage.
Several of the largest Iranian proxy forces in Iraq, including the notorious Kataib Hezbollah (KH), threatened to escalate attacks on American positions if the U.S. assisted Israel in its war against the Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
U.S. officials told CNN on Monday that Iran’s proxy militias are planning to increase the tempo of their attacks even further. One official said there are “red lights flashing everywhere,” warning of more assaults.
“We see a prospect for much more significant escalation against U.S. forces and personnel in the near term. And let’s be clear about it. The road leads back to Iran. Iran funds, arms, equips, and trains militias and proxy forces all across the region,” the official said, echoing Kirby’s statement at the White House.
“We are preparing for this escalation, both in terms of defending our forces and being prepared to respond decisively,” the official said.
