Iran-Backed Militia Planning Attack On US Bases In Iraq, Syria: Report

Iran is reportedly planning to attack the US bases in Iraq in retaliation against American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. US military and intelligence officials have detected signs that Iran-backed militias are planning to attack US bases in Iraq and possibly in Syria, according to a report by the New York Times. 

This comes as the US issued a "worldwide caution" for Americans, saying the conflict in the Middle East could put those travelling or living abroad at an increased security risk. Iran has threatened US bases in the Middle East after massive airstrikes that Washington said had destroyed Tehran's nuclear program. 

Quoting US officials, the NYT report said so far, the Iran-backed militia groups have held off, while Iraqi officials are working hard to dissuade their action.

The report did not specify which Iran-backed groups are planning to target US bases, but Iran's proxy network has been weakened by years of attrition by Israel and the US forces. Tehran's Lebanon-based proxy, which has suffered several major losses in the past three years of Israel Hamas conflict, has indicated it would not join the latest fight against the Jewish state. 

Meanwhile, another report by NBC claimed that in the days leading to US President Donald Trump's final order for the attack on Iranian nuclear sites, Tehran had privately communicated to Washington that it could activate sleeper cells to carry out terrorist attacks on American soil in response to a strike on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.

The message reached Trump during the G7 summit in Canada last week, which made the US President leave the summit early, the report said.

The US-Iran relations have been sour for years, particularly after the US killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

US Bases In Iraq And Syria

The United States has troops at various installations in Iraq, including Al-Asad and Arbil air bases. The Iraqi government is a close ally of Iran, but also a strategic partner of Tehran's arch-foe, the United States.

There are some 2,500 US troops in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group. Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition's forces from the country.

US forces in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by pro-Iran militants following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, but responded with heavy strikes on Tehran-linked targets, and the attacks largely subsided.

In Syria, the United States has for years maintained troop presences at a series of installations as part of international efforts against the Islamic State group, which rose out of the country's civil war to overrun large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

The Pentagon announced in April that it would roughly halve the number of its forces in the country to less than 1,000 in the coming months as part of a "consolidation" of US troops in the country.