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US national security adviser Jake Sullivan says more strikes planned on Iran-backed groups

  • Sullivan’s statement comes after Washington launched strikes on Tehran-aligned factions in Iraq, Syria and Yemen over the last two days
  • He declined to be drawn on whether the US might attack sites inside Iran, something the US military has been very careful to avoid

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A member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces stands guard at the gate of the paramilitary forces’ headquarters, between their logo and a portrait of slain leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, ahead of the funeral of people killed the previous day in US strikes in western Iraq. Photo: AFP
Reuters
The United States intends to launch further strikes at Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, the White House national security adviser said on Sunday, after hitting Tehran-aligned factions in Iraq, Syria and Yemen over the last two days.
The United States and Britain unleashed attacks against 36 Houthi targets in Yemen, a day after the US military hit Tehran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops in Jordan.

“We intend to take additional strikes, and additional action, to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked, when our people are killed,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme on Sunday.

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The strikes are the latest blows in a conflict that has spread into the Middle East since October 7, when the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed Israel from the Gaza Strip, igniting war.
Members of an Iraqi Shiite militant group attend a funeral for the group members who were killed by a US air strike, in Baghdad. Photo: AP
Members of an Iraqi Shiite militant group attend a funeral for the group members who were killed by a US air strike, in Baghdad. Photo: AP

Tehran-backed groups declaring support for the Palestinians have entered the fray across the region: Hezbollah has fired at Israeli targets at the Lebanese-Israeli border, Iraqi militias have fired on US forces in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis have fired on shipping in the Red Sea and at Israel itself.

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