Al-aalem Al-jadeed

A newspaper free from partisanship,
sectarianism and the influence of its owners

Targeting “Ain al-Assad”.. Breaking a truce or “testing the pulse”

After a five-month hiatus, American bases, led by Ain al-Assad, returned to being targeted by two drones, a development that observers considered new and coinciding with the introduction of the new American ambassador, election fever in Washington, and the escalation of the war in Gaza and southern Lebanon, in an attempt by pro-Iranian factions to “test the pulse” and test Washington’s reaction to these developments.

Political analyst Mujasha Al-Tamimi said, during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed, that “targeting the Ain Al-Assad base, which includes international coalition forces, may be a reaction by the Iranian-led resistance axis to the major and dangerous escalation taking place in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon, but no one It can be confirmed that the event took place under the guidance of Tehran, and it is also difficult to confirm that such an event was carried out by Iraqi factions without an Iranian decision in the end.”

He added, “The targeting operation took place before the start of Iraqi consultations with the international coalition to set a timetable for ending the presence of coalition forces in Iraq. It also came after statements by Iraqi political leaders against the foreign presence, despite the legality of its presence and with Iraqi acceptance.”

He points out that “this operation is a disturbing warning for the Iraqi government, which wants to calm the situation in Iraq, especially with the clear disintegration of the ruling coalition, as some political forces have exerted great pressure on the government and its president, Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani.”

Regarding the corresponding response, Al-Tamimi expects that “the American side will maintain calm as long as the operation does not result in loss of life, because Washington does not want escalation with Iran in these circumstances and wants to limit the battle to the Gaza Strip, and even Iran, which is waiting to give confidence to a reformist government, does not want more escalation and transformation of the conflict in the region, so I believe that the situation will not go to greater escalation and the truce will continue because Tehran and Washington do not want escalation and both want to put an end to the war in Gaza.”

Media confirmed that two bomb-laden drones targeted the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq, which hosts American forces, in an attack that was the first on American forces in Iraq since early February, when the Iraqi factions stopped their attacks.

The attack comes less than a week before an expected visit of a high-level Iraqi military delegation to Washington to continue talks on ending the US-led military coalition in the country.

For his part, security expert Alaa Al-Nashou stated, during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed, that “the armed factions loyal to Iran returning to direct conflict with the American forces in Iraq after a truce that lasted for months has many reasons, including military, as the factions consider the Ain al-Assad base an important intelligence site that gives them the ability to know all the movements made by these factions in Iraq and Syria.”

Al-Nashou adds: “This base also has a major military effort because it contains important strategic aircraft that are considered the most powerful, including F35 and F22 aircraft, which are only found in American bases of strategic importance.”

 As for the political reasons, the resurgence of targeting is attributed to “the end of the work of US Ambassador Romanski, and the arrival of the new Ambassador Tracy Jacobson, who made important statements, including ending the role of militias in Iraq with military force, confronting them, and striking any country that interferes in Iraqi affairs.”

Al-Nashou believes that “what the factions did was to test the pulse first and then find out the American reaction in light of the electoral battle that the Democrats are waging against the Republicans in Washington,” explaining that “the factions, after this exposure, will wait for orders first, and then begin the stage of carrying out new attacks, especially any American response is unlikely so far.”

Since last February, armed factions’ operations against American forces have stopped, as part of a truce announced by some factions, but that truce, which ended last May, was extended under pressure from the Iraqi and Iranian governments, according to several sources who spoke to Al Aalem Al Jadeed last month.

It is noteworthy that the armed factions, since mid-October 2023, began targeting American bases in Iraq, coinciding with the Gaza war, as the factions announced that their targeting of American forces was in response to American support for Israel.

In addition, the director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, Ghazi Faisal, indicated during an interview with “Al Aalem Al Jadeed” that “there are radical currents present in the factions that declare their affiliation with Iran and the Revolutionary Guards, and these factions are in an armed, political, and strategic confrontation against the United States forces in Iraq and the Middle East, and these forces are considered a target anywhere and at any time.”

Faisal adds, “There is a lack of discipline for some factions, as they feel from time to time that they can violate the truce and carry out military operations in the triangle between Iraq, Syria, and Jordan,” stressing that “today the truce exists, but it is a tactical truce that will end if the government does not succeed in removing the American forces from Iraq, the factions are putting pressure and do not care about strategic agreements and long-term training and arming contracts for the Iraqi army and armed forces.”

He points out that “the latest targeting heralds the outbreak and expansion of confrontations, and with the introduction of the new American ambassador and Trump’s possible victory, the United States will take a radical position on Iran and will not accept greater Iranian influence in Iraq. Therefore, we are facing an ongoing confrontation that may take a temporary truce, but it will erupt again, especially with the Gaza war is on-going.”

The previous escalation between the armed factions and America witnessed military responses by Washington, the most recent of which was the bombing of the city of Al-Qaim, adjacent to the Syrian border. The US Army’s Central Command confirmed at the time that its forces launched air strikes in Iraq and Syria targeting sites of the Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard and its affiliated militia groups, the command said, that US military forces struck more than 85 targets with many aircraft, including long-range bombers, launched from the United States.

American responses to attacks by armed factions also included assassinations of leaders in those factions in the center of the capital, Baghdad, via precise guided missiles.

إقرأ أيضا