WASHINGTON: The head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday that the Middle East is facing a “convergence of crises” for various reasons.
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, US Army General Michael “Erik” Kurilla said the region was on the verge of “unprecedented and transformative progress” one year ago.
But today, it “faces its most volatile security situation in the past half century. This is not the same central region as last year,” Kurilla said, testifying before the committee about the fiscal year 2025 defense authorization request and the Future Years Defense Program.
The events of Oct. 7 not only permanently changed Israel and Gaza but “created the conditions for malign actors to sow instability throughout the region and beyond. Iran exploited what they saw as a once-in-a generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East to their advantage,” he said, adding Tehran is using its proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and Yemen.
“Houthi attacks on international shipping and Iranian aligned militia attacks our forces in Iraq and Syria are a direct result of an Iranian threat that has been incrementally spreading,” he noted.
Kurilla reminded the committee that US forces conducted a series of strikes against Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq and Syria in response to an attack in Jordan that killed three US soldiers and also killed a Kataib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning attacks on US forces in the region.
“I think that’s sent a very strong deterrent message, and we have not had an attack in 32 days in Iraq and Syria. But, I will tell you that deterrence is temporary,” he added.
He also said there have been 173 attacks on US positions in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 7 and the US has retaliated eight times.
Since the Israeli army launched intensified attacks on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 last year following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, US military bases in Syria and Iraq have been targeted with drones and rockets.
