US President Joe Biden ordered strikes on two facilities used by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and militia it backs, the Reuters news agency reported.
"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," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
"These Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop," Austin added.
Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Thursday that US and coalition forces were "attacked at least 12 separate times in Iraq and four separate times in Syria, by a mix of one-way attack drones and rockets" between October 17 and 26.
"We know that these groups are affiliated with Iran," Ryder said.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at the United Nations on Thursday that the United States would "not be spared from this fire" if Israel's offensive against Hamas did not stop in the Middle East, Reuters reported.
The Israel-Hamas war began when the Palestinian organisation Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, according to media reports.
European Union leaders earlier this month condemned Hamas attacks on Israel and backed Israel’s right to defend itself in line with humanitarian and international law.
Poland last week condemned civilian deaths in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and called on all sides to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East.
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Source: Reuters, defense.gov/defense.gov, ukrinform.net
