Russia accused President Joe Biden on Monday of launching strikes in Iraq and Syria not in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. soldiers, but to enhance his image as the presidential election campaign “is heating up.”
The United States initiated airstrikes on Friday targeting numerous sites associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and allied groups. This action followed the deaths of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, which Washington attributes to Iranian-backed militias.
At a Security Council meeting convened at Moscow’s request to discuss the strikes, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia stated that there was no justification for the U.S. action.
“We see in these ‘flex their muscles’ attempts, first of all, a desire to influence domestic political landscape in America, a desire to somehow correct the disastrous image of the current American administration on the international arena as the presidential election campaign is heating up,” he said.
U.S. voters are set to cast their ballots in November to choose the next president for the upcoming four years. The White House has yet to respond to a request for comment regarding Nebenzia’s remarks about Biden.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Robert Wood, defended the U.S. strikes in Syria and Iraq citing Article 51 of the founding U.N. Charter, which outlines the right of states to self-defense against armed attacks, whether individual or collective in nature.
“Let me be clear: The United States does not desire more conflict in a region when we are actively working to contain and de-escalate the conflict in Gaza. And we are not seeking a direct conflict with Iran. But we will continue to defend our personnel against unacceptable attacks. Period,” Wood said.
He added that the strikes in Syria and Iraq were a “separate and distinct” operation from U.S. and British strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen in response to the Houthi targeting of shipping in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon stated on Monday that it had no knowledge of any Iranian casualties resulting from the recent strikes. Meanwhile, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, condemned the U.S. action as “illegitimate, illegal, and unjustified.”
“All of the resistance groups in the region are independent,” he told the 15-member U.N. Security Council on Monday.
“Any attempt to attribute these actions to Iran or its Armed forces is misleading, baseless, and unacceptable. Iran never seeks to contribute to the spillover in the region.”
