Since the seventh of last October, a battle has begun Al-Aqsa flood In a sector GazaThe Iranian-backed factions did not stop targeting the areas where US forces are deployed and their bases in Syria and Iraq, via drones and medium-range missiles, especially with Washington’s continued support for Israel in its aggression against Gaza.

My base is being targeted Al-Tanf In Syria and “Tower 22” inside Jordanian territory, the day before yesterday, Sunday, it was the most prominent targeting of the American presence in the region, and the first targeting that left American forces dead since the start of the war on Gaza.

Sources told Al Jazeera Net that the targeting was carried out from within Syrian territory, specifically from the “Jelighim” area near the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border, where forces loyal to Iran are stationed.

On Monday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied its involvement in a drone attack that killed 3 American soldiers in Jordan, according to a statement carried by the official news agency (IRNA). A spokesman for it said, “These accusations have a political purpose and aim to overturn the facts in the region,” in response to a statement by the British Foreign Secretary. David Cameron In which he called on Tehran to “stop escalation.”

On the other hand, local sources reported that this attack coincided with the bombing of the Rmelan and Al-Shaddadi bases in Al-Hasakah Governorate. While journalist Musab Al-Hamidi confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that the targeting of American forces in Al-Hasakah came from Iraqi territory near the Syrian border.

The American base at the “Conico” gas plant and the “Omar Field” base, located in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, are the most targeted sites because they are located one kilometer away from the spread of pro-Iranian factions, and they are areas of contact between the American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian regime forces. . Therefore, targeting these two bases is not difficult, says Omar Abu Laila, director of the “Deir ez-Zor 24” website.

Indirect confrontations

Abu Laila explained, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that targeting the American base in Al-Shaddadi and the “Kharab Al-Jir” airport is often done by drones, and in that area there are Russian forces, so the process of responding to those targeting will expose the American forces to a collision with Russia, and this is what makes American forces are more careful in choosing their targets.

The journalist adds that if we compare the American forces targeting LState regulation By targeting Iranian headquarters, we will find that the American bombing of those headquarters is “just a warning only.”

The confrontation strategy between the two parties is based on the principle of guerrilla warfare and not being drawn into a direct confrontation, and relies on threatening the possibility of using force and escalating it in proportion to developments in the region.

This is in line with what the American domestic arena is witnessing and the beginning of calls for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Syria, as the military analyst at the Jusoor Center for Studies, Rashid Al-Hourani, said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net.

Al-Hourani adds that despite the small number of losses during the past year and the current one among the ranks of the American army, the recent human losses have had an impact on the ranks of his community, and lead to his movement to put pressure on the American administration, which may lead to the withdrawal of forces from Syria, and this is what Iran is counting on it, and it is supported in this by the position of Russia and Turkey, which reject the American presence in Syria.

As for the losses on the Iranian side, the military analyst says, they are evident through targeting convoys of trucks and targeting leading figures, but it has been proven over the past years that these losses, no matter how great they are, will not deter Iran from backing down from its project and extending its influence in the region.

Pro-Iranian formations

The Iranian-backed forces are spread throughout most of the Syrian geography, and have taken on several different names and specializations. In Deir ez-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria, after regime forces regained control in 2018 of the center of the governorate, and the western parts of the Euphrates River until the border city of Albukamal with Iraq, the Guards were able The Iranian Revolutionary Forces formed several factions as follows:

• The “Fatemiyoun Al-Afghan” formation, led by “Hajj Abu Zainab” Al-Afghani, is deployed in the Ayyash warehouses, west of Deir ez-Zor, in its eastern countryside, and in the countryside of the city of Albukamal and other locations, and the number of its members is estimated at 300 members.
• “Zainabiyoun”, led by “Hajj Gulzar”, is stationed near Deir ez-Zor military airport and the number of its members is estimated at 200.
• Hizb allah The Lebanese unit represented by Unit 313, led by the Lebanese “Hajj Jawad”. This unit represents the largest number with an estimated number of forces of about 500 members, working on security and intelligence tasks and training in launching drones and launching missiles. It is spread in the city of Deir ez-Zor and its eastern countryside and in the cities of Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bukamal, and it has mobile headquarters between towns and villages according to the tasks assigned to it.
• Abu Al-Fadl Al-Abbas, a group with training centers in the Ayash area and the city of Mahkan in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, and the number of its members is estimated at more than 400.
• Groups affiliated with the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces in the city of Albukamal and on the Syrian-Iraqi border, including Al-Nujaba and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq. As for the Badia area, near the T2 station and on the Al-Tanf road, the 47th Regiment militia was disbanded, led by Abu Issa Al-Mashhadani. The total number of pro-Iranian forces is estimated at approximately 6,000 members, all of which are under the management of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, led by Hajj Kamil.
• As for Al-Hasakah Governorate, the presence of these formations was limited to the security square inside the governorate center, which is controlled by regime forces, as they carry out security missions, the most prominent of which is “Saraya Al-Khorasani”, which receives direct support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, while Hezbollah’s task forces were stationed. Led by “Hajj Mahdi” on the “M2” (M4) road south of the city of Qamishli.
• In the Syrian desert, Iranian forces are deployed in the Jalighim area near the Al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria, where forces of the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Iraqi Hezbollah, and the Nujaba militia are stationed.

America in Syria

There are American bases in the Al-Omar oil field, the Conico gas plant, and in the Al-Tanak oil field in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, with a number of forces exceeding 900, and these bases contain airstrips and missile launch pads.

As for Al-Hasakah Governorate, it was stationed at the Tal Baydar base, Al-Shaddadi base, in addition to the Rumailan base, and other points near Al-Hasakah prison in the Gweran neighborhood, and in the village of Himo near the city of Qamishli, and points in Al-Malikiyah and the village of Qasrak between the Tal Tamr and Qamishli regions.

While it settled in southern Syria near the Syrian-Jordanian border in the Al-Tanf area, and opposite it on the Jordanian side is a base called “Tower 22” whose mission is logistical support for the Al-Tanf base.

Islamic resistance in Iraq

Some Iraqi factions collectively – without an organizational or administrative structure – take the name “Islamic Resistance” in Iraq, and at the head of these factions are the Iraqi Hezbollah and the Sayyid al-Shuhada, al-Nujaba and al-Khorasani Brigades. The latter is especially prominent when targeting American forces in the region.

Neither Iran nor the Popular Mobilization Forces want to directly claim responsibility for the attacks; Therefore, the forces loyal to it resort to using this name (Islamic resistance in Iraq), according to what political analyst Saad Al-Share' told Al Jazeera Net.

Al-Shara adds that the military situation has been in place since before the October 7 aggression in Gaza, while the escalation occurred after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, considering that the reasons for this escalation are Iran’s attempt to “collect” what it described as a state of chaos among its supporters, as Operation Seventh From October, he said, there was a “blow” to this axis through “Iran’s inaction and abandonment of real support for its allies” in Gaza.

The political analyst believes that “this escalation has no military objectives and does not constitute a major military difference. Rather, it is an attempt to deliver messages to Iran's supporters that we are involved in the battle against Israel.”