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The New York Times reported early on Saturday that U.S. intelligence officials told President Biden that Iran was not seeking a regional war ahead of strikes carried out against two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and groups it backs.
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According to the report the officials said the Iranians were hoping to put pressure on the American administration, to constrain Israel's attack on Hamas and also to be a show of force. The American attack was meticulously planned so as not to bring about a further deterioration in the region while also demonstrating the might of the U.S. military.
U.S. and coalition troops have been attacked at least 19 times in the past week, in Iraq and in Syria. A total of 21 U.S. forces have suffered minor injuries, the vast majority of them traumatic brain injuries.
A senior American defense officials told reporters in a briefing on Friday that the U.S. action would significantly harm pro-Iran militias' ability to attack U.S .forces.
"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," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement late last week. "If attacks by Iran's proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people."