Iran has made a concerted effort to rein in militias in Iraq and Syria after the US retaliated with a series of airstrikes for the killing of three US army reservists this month.
Initially, there were regional concerns that the tit-for-tat violence would lead to an escalation of West Asian conflict. But since the February 2 US strikes, US officials say, there have been no attacks by Iran-backed militias on US bases in Iraq and only two minor ones in Syria. Before then, the US military logged at least 170 attacks against US troops in four months, Pentagon officials said.
The relative quiet reflects decisions by both sides and suggests that Iran does have some level of control over the militias.
The Biden administration has made clear that Iran would be held accountable for miscalculations and operations by proxy forces, but it has avoided any direct attack on Iran. The US response “may be having some effect,” General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., a retired head of the Pentagon’s Central Command, said.
“The question is are the militias attacking or not,” he added, “and at least for now, they are not.” The lull also marks a sharp turnaround by Iran. Tehran had for months directed its regional proxies in Iraq and Syria to attack US bases in West Asia as part of a wider battle against Israel.
New York Times News Service
