Biden Orders Series Airstrikes Along Syria-Iraq Border

The Biden administration has confirmed the president ordered Sunday night airstrikes on multiple militant encampments along the Iraq-Syria border in order to "protect US personnel" - as an official Department of Defense statement in the aftermath indicated.

"At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region," the late Sunday statement reads. It was reportedly a "response" to ongoing drone attacks conducted by Iran-allied forces in both countries.

Such airstrikes began growing common place during the last year of the Trump administration amid growing tit-for-tat attacks between Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, but has been rare for the Biden White House, only happening one prior time in February that was publicly disclosed.

The DoD press statement added of this latest attack: "The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq."

"Specifically, the U.S. strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries. Several Iran-backed militia groups, including Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), used these facilities."

U.S. Air Force F-15s and F-16s were used in the strikes tonight which took place ~6 pm ET (1 am local).

At least one facility used by Iran’s milita forces to launch and recover drones was destroyed: U.S. defense official

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) June 27, 2021

The US military additionally called it "necessary" - saying that "President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect US personnel."

So far there's no immediate reports of casualties, which will likely be coming in throughout the night. Some local sources are suggesting multiple dead and injured…

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/biden-orders-series-airstrikes-along-syria-iraq-border

Iran Refuses To Grant IAEA Access To Nuclear Facilities: "Agreement Has Expired"

At a moment the clock is said to be winding down toward a nuclear deal in Vienna, with both sides expressing increased frustration that things are dragging on too long, Tehran is playing hardball with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Once again it's over access to the country's nuclear sites according to prior arrangements: "The speaker of Iran's parliament said on Sunday Tehran will never hand over images from inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the U.N. nuclear watchdog as a monitoring agreement with the agency had expired, Iranian state media reported," Reuters writes Sunday.

In February Iran had struck a deal for a three month extension which allowed IAEA inspectors access to remote cameras and images from sensitive facilities. This came after months of Tehran officials threatening to boot IAEA monitoring from the country altogether.

"The agreement has expired… any of the information recorded will never be given to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the data and images will remain in the possession of Iran," said Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Over the weekend, just as the extension is set to expire, the IAEA demanded an "immediate response" over the "possible continued collection, recording and retention of data."

But Iran's position is that it's fulfilled its obligations and therefore is not required to comply with such a request. Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, made clear to the UN watchdog that the Islamic Republic is under no such obligation.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/tehran-refuses-grant-iaea-access-nuclear-facilities-agreement-has-expired