Rhetoric By Iran And Attacks By Proxies Escalate

Iran International Newsroom
Two F/A-18 Super Hornets, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11, launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on April 29, 2021.
Two F/A-18 Super Hornets, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11, launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on April 29, 2021.

The US fleet in the Red Sea intercepted 17 drones and missiles on Tuesday, as Iranian officials promised to hit back at Israel for the killing of Iran’s ‘top man’ in Syria.

Escalation was palpable during the day, as destroyers and fighter jets from the USS Eisenhower were forced to shoot down “twelve one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles” in the Red Sea –all fired by Iran-backed Houthis in 10 hours, according to the US Central Command.

In Tehran, spokesmen for Iran’s government and Iran’s defense ministry repeated what seems to be the regime’s chosen message now: There will be a response to Israel’s killing of Razi Mousavi “at the right time and the right place.”

Razi Mousavi (aka Seyyed Razi) was killed by a direct Israeli airstrike Monday. He headed IRGC’s ‘logistics’ and military coordination in Syria, which may be better understood as being in charge of getting weapons or money for Iran-backed forces in Syria and Lebanon.

He had been active in Syria for more than 25 years, and had escaped multiple Israeli attempts on his life, according to reports in IRGC-affiliated media.

“This crime definitely deserves punishment. Israelis must pay the price for their recent terrorist actions,” said Reza Talaei-nik, Iran’s defense ministry spokesman in a press conference Tuesday. “Iran will give a smart and strong response to the Israeli strike at the appropriate time and place.”

There’s no clear indication of what a ‘response’ would look like. It is rather clear, however, that both the rhetoric and the action is intensifying on all sides.

And that includes the United States.

On Monday, President Biden ordered the US military to hit Iran-affiliated targets in Iraq almost immediately after drone attacks on a US base that left one American soldier critically injured. It was a swift response from an administration that has appeared reluctant to respond to more than 100 attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

But it doesn’t seem to have satisfied the critics –who want Joe Biden to “change course” completely and sharply.

“Retaliatory strikes are a reaction. We need to be proactive,” said Rep. Rob Wittman on Fox News Tuesday. “We need to go after where we know these attacks are coming from… The failed policy of capitulating to Iran is manifesting itself in what we’re seeing Iran doing in the region.”

The Biden administration may find it harder to cease fire if the current trajectory persists. Harsher attacks on US troops in Syria and Iraq, growing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, and a potential act of belligerence from Iran –as seen in the strike on the oil tanker in the Indian Ocean last week– these would all push President Biden away from his de-escalation policy and towards confrontation with Iran.

“The irony is the non-escalation approach is actually making Iran more wealthy to further fuel terrorism in the region,” Rep. Mike Waltz said on Fox News Tuesday. “We’re not hitting back on things that Iran cares about.”

Would that not mean dragging US troops (and the US taxpayer) into yet another costly war riddled with uncertainty?

“I want to be clear: that’s not for some major military escalation,” explained Rep. Mike Waltz. “Reverse-course on Iran policy, go back to maximum pressure and dry up their coffers that are fueling terrorism across the region.”