Top US General Advocates Targeting Iran’s IRGC Quds Force after Syria Drone Attack

The top commander of US forces in the Middle East, US Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, told House lawmakers earlier this month that Iran and its proxies in the region were undeterred.

Quds Force-backed militias in Syria “have behaved increasingly independently over time, particularly since the targeted killing of Qassem Soleimani,” said Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank.

“His replacement, Ismail Ghani, has not demonstrated the same ability to constrain them. It’s become increasingly difficult to know whether any specific attack by the militias in Syria is the result of them acting independently or with direction from Tehran,” Lord said

In contrast to the Trump administration — which demanded the Pentagon provide plans to strike Iranian territory and assassinated Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in early 2020 — the Biden administration has until recently opted for a subtler approach to arrest the cycle of violence while preventing escalation into open conflict.

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