At least five US troops deployed in Iraq were wounded by a barrage of rockets on Monday.
The US expects more attacks on its troops in the Middle East as Hezbollah and Iran prepare to attack Israel, Axios reported Monday.
Several US service members were injured in a rocket attack on a US air base in Iraq on Monday night.
The Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed the attack on Al-Asad Air Base with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
Meanwhile, Israel is bracing for attacks from both Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, following the recent assassinations of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut.
The Jewish state has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in Haniyeh’s assassination.
“The Pentagon expects more attacks by pro-Iran militias against US forces in the region in the coming days and stressed that rising tensions in the region are making the militias feel less constrained by Iran in attacking US forces than they have in recent months,” Axios wrote on Monday, citing a US official familiar with the matter.
US Intelligence “expect a scenario involving two waves of attacks”, one from Hezbollah and one from Iran, in combination with other regional groups, US officials said, citing Axios.
That’s it “it is not yet clear” who will strike first and what form the attack will take, the report added.
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were “informed in the Situation Room about developments in the Middle East”, the White House said in a statement Tuesday. They discussed the steps “to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel.”
Additionally, the US leadership received updates on regional threats, de-escalation efforts and US preparations to support Israel in the event of an attack, the statement added.
In April, Tehran carried out a large-scale combined missile and drone bombardment against Israel in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital that killed several high-ranking Iranian officials.
This time, Iran’s leadership has promised to respond to the “terrorist attack” who killed Haniyeh in Tehran, placing the blame on Israel.
According to media reports, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto informed his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz about the Iranians’ intention to attack, as Iran and Israel do not maintain diplomatic relations.