President Biden launched missile strikes against what the US describes as Iran-backed militias operating in Syria on Thursday. These strikes were in retaliation for an attack on US troops stationed in Erbil, Iraq earlier this month which resulted in the death of a civilian contractor. While the initial attack occurred in Iraq, the retaliatory strikes were aimed at militias in Syria to avoid a diplomatic spat with the Iraqi government, which has strong ties to Iran.
The Biden administration has said they hope to avoid a direct confrontation with Iran as they hope to renew talks to enter a nuclear deal. President Trump had exited the previous nuclear deal during his term, and Biden has promised to attempt to reenter the agreement during his term.
Trump had also directly confronted Iran through the killing of General Qassim Soleimani in January 2020 over the general’s repeated attacks on US troops over the years. Iran did launch retaliatory strikes in response which caused injuries to US servicemembers in the region; however, there was no escalation to a full-blown conflict that some had feared may have resulted from Soleimani’s killing.
