US and Iran Murky Ties: 3 American Soldiers Killed by Iran Proxies
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The administration of President Joe Biden will loathe to entangle itself with Iran concerning past murky dealings between both nations. Accordingly, while the deaths of three American soldiers are bound to witness military strikes, America and Iran will seek to tip-toe around the growing entanglements concerning the various proxies of Iran.
It is known that the proxies of Iran killed three American troops near the border between Jordan and Syria. This drone strike also injured over 30 American troops.
Biden said the drone strike was done by “radical Iran-backed militant groups.”
Biden confirmed that America “shall respond.”
AP News reports, “Iran-backed fighters in east Syria began evacuating their posts, fearing U.S. airstrikes, according to Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet. He told The Associated Press that the areas are the strongholds of Mayadeen and Boukamal.”
However, if recent history is to go by, America and Iran will seek to tip-toe around the latest crisis despite forthcoming military strikes by America in response to events on the border of Jordan and Syria -provided Iran can rein in the various proxies it supports. This is the one recent problem that could create a breakdown.
AMERICA AND IRAN MURKY TIES
The relationship between America and Iran isn’t what it appears concerning geopolitics. Hence, sanctions by America on Iran to chants of “death to America” in Iran are realities on the surface, that hurt ordinary Iranian citizens who seek to make a living. However, the geopolitical relationship is very different – even if this is facing a breakdown because of Iran’s growing proxies in several nations.
Even during the reign of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iran-Contra affair emerged. In the Bosnian crisis, America allowed Iran to break the military arms embargo to support Bosnian Muslims and Islamist forces against the Bosnian Serbs (Orthodox Christian).
Iran provided intelligence to America during the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in Iraq. After all, the Iran-Iraq war provided a wealth of information – and led to murky sales by America and Israel to assist Iran (suggestions being that Israel hoped to prolong the Iran-Iraq war – similar to President Joe Biden funding Ukraine to a higher level to prolong the war with the Russian Federation).
Also, when America entered Afghanistan to oust the Taliban after the September 11 terrorist attack, the government of Iran assisted the political elites in Washington by notifying the Northern Alliance (supported by Iran, India, and the Russian Federation) to help America on the ground.
Equally, during the Barack Obama administration, the political elites – along with the mass media in America – treated the mass protests in Egypt and Iran differently. Accordingly, Hosni Mubarak was thrown under the American bus despite being loyal to America. However, the Obama administration was timid in response to mass protests in Iran.
During the height of ISIS (IS – Islamic State) in Iraq and Syria, the armed forces of America and Iran avoided confrontation by focusing on curtailing ISIS – who were butchering the Shia and other atrocities against religious minorities.
Ironically, in Iraq, where this nation went from Sunni dominance to Shia dominance and the growing tentacles of Iran after the American-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, America was also implicated in training Shia death squads who killed Sunni Muslims.
The Guardian reports, “Soon after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, now retired Colonel James Steele was in Baghdad as one of the White House’s most important agents, sending back reports to Donald Rumsfeld and acting as the US defense secretary’s personal envoy to Iraq’s Special Police Commandos, whose intelligence-gathering activities he oversaw. Drawn mostly from violent Shia militia, the commandos developed a reputation for torture and later for their death-squad activities directed against the Sunni community.”
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The above – and other events – that led to the murky dealings between America and Iran threaten to unravel because Iran deems America to be in a weakened position. Also, the destabilization of Iraq and Syria paradoxically enabled Iran to entrench itself in Iraq and to send military personnel and support proxies inside Syria. Therefore, when Biden took office, he promised to be tough against Saudi Arabia and he delisted the Houthis in Yemen from being deemed a terrorist organization.
However, Iran is emboldened by the weakness of America and is upping the ante concerning the Houthis in Yemen and Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria.
Ironically, despite ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, it seems more contained and with all sides not seeking to over-escalate.
The Biden administration knows that Iran is growing its power structures in Iraq, Syria, and parts of Yemen under the control of the Houthis. Lebanon is more complex because of the sizeable Christian community and the sectarian nature of politics (along with major economic problems).
Hence, the Biden administration is in a quandary – to retaliate by hitting targets in Iran (a genuine warning to this country) or to seek to contain the crisis by strikes against Iran’s proxies in Iraq and Syria.
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