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THE US are set to launch a series of missiles into Syria as a multi-day blitz is expected to be unleashed.
The strikes have been expected since terrifying plans by Joe Biden and the US government were leaked after three American troops were killed last week.
Rex
The three killed US troops: Sgt William Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23Official sources on Thursday revealed plans for retaliation strikes have been approved and will involve a blitz on Iranian people and facilities.
The bombshell scheme was leaked as US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin decried the barrage of drone and rocket attacks recently carried out by Iran-backed militias on US forces in the Middle East.
He said on Thursday afternoon: “The president will not tolerate attacks on American troops and neither will I. Our teammates were killed by radical militants backed by Iran, operating in Syria and Iraq.”
Mr Austin added that Iran-backed rebels had “tried to create even more turmoil” ever since terror group Hamas unleashed its terror on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage.
He declared: “This is a dangerous moment in the Middle East.
“We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our interests, and our people.
“We will respond when we choose, where we choose, and how we choose. That’s what everyone here is focused on.”
The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Maj Gen Hossein Salami vowed this week that Iran will respond to any threat from the US saying they “are not afraid” of war.
He said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other.
“We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”
The strikes come in response to attacks targeting US forces in the region, including last Saturday’s deadly assault on a US military outpost known as Tower 22 in Jordan which killed three – including Breonna Moffett, 23, whose family say was on her first tour of duty.
Mark Wallace, a former US ambassador to the UN told The Sun: “President Biden established his red line with Iran, which was that if any US soldiers were killed, he would act decisively – that line has been crossed.
“Iran has shown its behaviour in the past, they are a paper tiger, they press, press and press but when confronted – they will always withdraw.”
Iran is a vital backer of Hamas and many other terrorist groups across the Middle East, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are behind recent attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
On January 11, western forces led by the UK and US obliterated 60 Houthi military targets in total under the cover of darkness, weakening the Iran-backed terror proxy in Yemen.
Laser-guided Tomahawk missiles and Paveway bombs, 1,200mph fighter jets, Reaper drones and destroyers were used alongside the RAF planes.
The attack saw the aircraft make their way from Cyprus to Yemen and back in hours, refuelling mid-air as they blitzed the targets.
A second UK-US attack then took place near the capital city Sanaa,
Who are the Houthis?
THE Houthi rebels are terrorising vessels and warships in the Red Sea - but who are they?
The Shia militant group, which now controls most of Yemen, spent over a decade being largely ignored by the world.
However, since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war they sprung from relative obscurity to holding roughly £1trillion of world trade hostage – turning one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into an active warzone.
Their warped slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam”.
Why are they attacking ships?
The rebel group has been launching relentless drone and missile attacks on any ships – including warships – they deem to be connected with Israel in solidarity with their ally Hamas.
The sea assaults have threatened to ignite a full-blown war in the Middle East as ripples from Israel’s war in Gaza are felt across the region – with Iran suspected of stoking the chaos.
However, there have been frequent attacks on commercial vessels with little or no link to Israel – forcing global sea traffic to halt operations in the region and sending shipping prices soaring.
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea increased 50 per cent between November and December.
The rebel group’s leaders have previously pledged the attacks will continue until Israel stops its devastating offensive inside Gaza – despite recent US and UK strikes on their military strongholds.
Experts have warned the US’ retaliation would have to involve “severe violence against the Iranian regime” to avoid facing more attacks.
Former British Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun on Monday that the attacks against US forces in Jordan were a “major new escalation” because it was the first time Americans had been killed by enemy fire in the region since the beginning of the Gaza war.
He said: “The Americans must respond in a decisive way.
“It’s not good enough just for the Americans to respond against Iranian proxies, now they must respond against Iran itself.”
Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that it was suspending military operations against US forces; there have been no attacks against American troops in the region since.
Rex
Iranian soldiers could be sent to fight as fears of an all-out war in the Middle East grow
Hossein Salami sent out a chilling message saying Iran isn’t ‘afraid of war’ despite the US preparing to retaliate in the Middle East
English (US)