U.S. Mideast commander says Iran orchestrating proxy attacks across region

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Iran is behind a wave of violence throughout the Middle East in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, arming and encouraging proxy groups like the Houthis in Yemen and increasing the risk of direct attacks on U.S. and Western interests in the region, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East told lawmakers on Thursday.

Army Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, also told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Islamic State-Khorasan Province, the terror group’s Afghan affiliate, has the capability and the will to launch a strike in six months with “little to no warning.”

Only a year ago, the region was on the verge of “improbable, unprecedented and transformative progress.” But today, the Middle East faces its most volatile security situation in the past half century, Gen. Kurilla said, a fallout from the Hamas attack on Israel last fall that has yet to subside.

“This is not the same central region as last year,” he said. “The events of October 7 not only permanently changed Israel and Gaza, it created the conditions for malign actors to sow instability throughout the region and beyond.”

He painted a grim picture of the situation on the ground in the Middle East following the Hamas rampage in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and hundreds of others taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed tens of thousands in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza as Hamas fighters continue to hold hostages and refuse to put down their arms.

“Iran exploited what they saw as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East to their advantage,” Gen. Kurilla said. “Iran has worked for decades to strategically encircle the region with its proxies.”

Over the past six months, Iran has activated its entire network of militant allies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and Yemen. They have been equipped with advanced, sophisticated weapons and are threatening some of the most “vital terrain” in the world, Gen. Kurilla said. He said while direct attacks have slowed in Syria and Iraq, Iran’s financial and logistical support for its anti-U.S. allies continues apace.

“Houthi attacks on international shipping and Iranian-aligned militia attacks on our forces in Iraq and Syria are a direct result of an Iranian threat that has been incrementally spreading,” he said.

Shortly before the general testified, Hamas representatives walked out of Gaza cease-fire talks Thursday in Cairo, ending four days of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt to secure a 40-day cease-fire amid fears of rising violence during Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer, and reflection for Muslims. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the lack of an agreement.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said it was “indisputable” that Iran controls its proxies and has killed Americans. But, he said the White House refuses to address Tehran’s culpability head-on, after a failed effort to engage Tehran diplomatically shortly after Mr. Biden took office in 2021.

“The [Biden] administration spent its first three years offering Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief to restore the Obama-era nuclear agreement,” Mr. Wicker said. “This approach will fail, because it assumes that we can deter terrorist groups without targeting their chief sponsor, Iran. The result is tragically ironic.”

China and Russia have shown little interest in helping to reduce regional tensions and are working to ratchet up the pressure against regional partners to “foster a chaotic landscape” favorable to their goal of exploiting the region, Gen. Kurilla said.

Iran continues to sell 90% of its oil to China, which funds Tehran’s activities throughout the region. Meanwhile, Tehran has developed a full-scale production pipeline for supplying weapons to Russia and fueling its war on Ukraine.

“The ramifications of this partnership have global implications,” Gen. Kurilla said.

Tehran-backed Shia militants in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan have launched more than 175 attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, prompting hundreds of U.S.-led airstrikes against Iranian allies across the region, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat, observed.

“The United States should continue to take appropriate military actions, but I must underscore there is no military solution to our conflict with Iran,” Mr. Reed said. “Direct war with Iran would have devastating second- and third-order consequences, and would likely engulf the entire region in war.”

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched more than 50 drone and missile attacks against U.S. and international vessels in the Red Sea, including Wednesday’s strike on the “True Confidence,” a Greek-owned cargo ship registered in Liberia. Three merchant sailors were killed in the attack, the first reported fatalities since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began lashing out against ships passing through one of the world’s busiest waterways.

The general suggested that U.S. forces were fortunate the casualty count hasn’t been higher given the tensions of recent months.

“There are several incidents where [drones] coming into a base hit another object, got caught up in a netting or other incidents where, had they hit the appropriate target that they were targeting, it would have injured or killed service members,” he told lawmakers Thursday.