U.S. officials: Iran might see ‘an opportunity’ to attack American forces amid Middle East instability
The turmoil in Israel “presents an opportunity,” one U.S. official said
The U.S. military has stationed roughly 900 troops in Syria since the Trump administration, focused on countering ISIS terrorists with the Syrian Democratic Forces. | Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images
By LARA SELIGMAN
10/11/2023 11:18 AM EDT
The Pentagon is concerned about the potential for new attacks on American troops stationed in the Middle East from Iran and its proxy forces as the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants escalates in an already tumultuous region, according to Defense Department officials.
DOD officials are specifically worried that Iranian proxy groups in Iraq and Syria, or Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf, could take advantage of the instability in the region to attack American or partner forces operating in those two countries — as they have done in the past, two DOD officials said.
“That presents an opportunity,” said one of the officials, who like others interviewed for this story, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive operations matters.
U.S. military forces in the Middle East are “aware of malign actors who may seek to capitalize on conflicts and instability in the region,” said Maj. Geoffrey Carmichael, the spokesperson for the American military operation to counter ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/11/us-troops-middle-east-attacks-israel-00120941
