Iran escalates proxy attacks

Armed groups backed by Iran have carried out at least two strikes on American forces since Friday, when the United States hit dozens of Iran-related targets in Syria and Iraq.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed in a press briefing Monday that two attacks had taken place in Syria and that there had been no casualties. He also suggested that the Pentagon expects Iran's proxy groups to continue their targeting of American forces in spite of the February 3rd US airstrikes.

In the meantime, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they fired naval missiles at two ships, Star Nasia and Morning Tide, in the Red Sea.

The group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech that they were US and British ships, but records from shipping trackers show they are flagged to the Marshall Islands and Barbados.

The US air campaign against targets in Syria and Iraq was authorized in response to the drone attack on January 28 that resulted in the deaths of three American soldiers and injuries to 40 others at a US base in Jordan. 

President Joe Biden and his team heavily publicized it both domestically, as evidence of their resolve, and internationally, as a deterrent against such attacks. As things stand, it is hard to say if the administration achieved these two goals.