US Sends Ominous Warning to Iran

The U.S. sent a message to Iran by striking bases in Syria used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps following attacks on U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and Syria, military analysts have said.

Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton told CNN on Thursday that the strikes were a warning to Iran and its leadership.

The strikes come amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza.

As of Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 7,028 people have been killed, according figures cited by the Associated Press (AP). More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed since October 7, according to the AP, citing Israeli authorities.

On Thursday, the U.S. carried out airstrikes against two weapons and ammunition storage facilities located in eastern Syria that are used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and militia it supports.

In a statement on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said: "These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17."

"The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop," the statement added.

Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are all backed by Iran.

Newsweek has reached out to the Department of Defense via email for comment.

Forces backed by Iran have attacked U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and Syria at least 19 times in the past week, according to Reuters.

Hertling joined Leighton, a CNN military analyst, to assess the strikes in a conversation with CNN anchor Abby Phillip.

"Basically, Abby, the message is, 'Don't do this. Don't attack us,'" Leighton said.

"There were 12 attacks against bases in Iraq and four attacks, I believe, in Syria," he said.

"So, these kinds of attacks are ones that would put U.S. personnel at risk and ironically they are bases that have been used to fight ISIS, which is also in Iran's interest to fight ISIS," Leighton said, adding that Iran was "in essence quasi-allies with us" in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Leighton added that Iran is "supporting Hamas and yes, these attacks were almost certainly coordinated."

Phillip asked Hertling about how the U.S. is striking a balance in responding to "Iranian provocation but how it's trying to not actually escalate this crisis."

Hertling, former commander of U.S. Army Europe, said that "the president has given the ayatollah a warning to stop these attacks."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the supreme leader of Iran, a role he has held since 1989.

The general said that previous attacks on U.S. bases by Iranian proxies had been "ad hoc."

"But within the last couple of days, since the 17th of October, those attacks—as Cedric just said—have increased in not only rocket attacks but also drone attacks," Hertling went on.

"They have been warned several times by both the president and the secretary of defense that we have the right to defend our military personnel in bases overseas," he said.

"Secretary Austin also put out a message tonight, after the president gave the same message to the ayatollahs, saying this is not an extension of the war in Gaza, this is us protecting our personnel," Hertling said.

He added: "I think there's continuous attempts to say, this is not part of the Israeli mission in Israel but it is us defending our soldiers who are stationed in bases in the region."