
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the purpose of the U.S. strike in Syria is to send a message to Iran that it cannot act with impunity against Washington and its partners.
“It sends a message, particularly to Iran, that they can’t act with impunity against our people, our partners, our interests,” Blinken said at a news conference.
“We needed to respond to the attacks, but also to the ongoing clear threat,” he added.
Blinken called the attack “focused, proportionate and effective in reducing the militia’s capacity to carry out attacks.”
Earlier, the Pentagon reported that the U.S. struck several buildings on the Syrian-Iraqi border that were used by a number of Iranian-backed militias, including Qataib Hezbollah and Qataib Sayyid al-Shuhada. According to the Pentagon, a number of infrastructure facilities of the Shiite groups were destroyed. The move, the Pentagon noted, was a response to recent attacks on U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq.