Image source, Reuters

For those of you just joining us, here's a summary of the main developments since the US launched strikes overnight in Iraq and Syria.

US: The US struck 85 targets in response to last Sunday's deadly drone attack on a US military base, with US President Joe Biden warning: "If you harm an American, we will respond"

The White House has blamed an Iran-backed militia umbrella group for the attack that killed three US soldiers

Syria: Damascus says a number of people have been killed and wounded in the strikes, and has also said the US "occupation" of Syrian territory "cannot continue"

Iraq: The Iraqi government has said at least 16 people, including civilians, have been killed by the strikes and 25 others wounded. Baghdad also accuses the US of putting Iraq and the region on "the brink of the abyss"

Iran: A spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Tehran has "strongly" condemned the US strikes as violations of "sovereignty and territorial integrity"

EU: Without addressing the action directly, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called on all parties to avoid an "explosive" escalation in the Middle East

UK: Meanwhile, the UK government has declared support for America's right to respond to attacks - calling the US a "steadfast" ally

Why did the US wait to retaliate for drone attack on its troops?published at 12:20 Greenwich Mean Time 3 February

12:20 GMT 3 February

Bernd Debusmann Jr & Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Washington and New York

Image source, GETTY IMAGES

Nearly a week after a drone strike in Jordan killed three US soldiers last Sunday, retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militias began on Friday.

The strikes had been expected for several days, and in the interim, US President Joe Biden's administration began to face questions and criticism from Republicans about the timing and forcefulness of his response.

But foreign policy experts believed the approach allowed Iran to withdraw personnel, potentially avoiding a wider conflict between the US and Iran.

"This would allow them to degrade the capacity of these Iranian-backed militias to attack US forces, but not escalate," Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, told the BBC.

US defence and security officials also said that weather had made it difficult to retaliate sooner, with Friday presenting the best conditions for launching strikes.

Read more on this story here.

As we've been reporting, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq responsible for the deadly attack on US troops in Jordan is part of what is known as Iran's "axis of resistance".

The core of the "axis of resistance" is made up of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen and assorted Iraqi militias that are armed and trained by Iran. The Iranians have also supported Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza.

The US and many other countries have designated Hezbollah, Hamas, PIJ and the Houthis as terrorist organisations.

Members of these armed groups receive weapons and funding from Iran and are under the influence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, though they often operate outside of his chain of command.

Iraq's foreign ministry has summoned the US envoy in Baghdad to deliver a formal memorandum of protest over the retaliatory US airstrikes launched overnight, state news agency INA reports.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it was responsible for the drone attack that killed three US troops in Jordan last Sunday.

But what is the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and why is it targeting US bases in the Middle East?

The group emerged in late 2023, right after the beginning of Israel's bombardment in Gaza in response to Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October.

It consists of several Iran-affiliated militias operating in Iraq and has claimed other attacks against US forces in recent weeks.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq is believed to be an umbrella term for various Shia militia groups such as Kataib Hezbollah, Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, that have a long history of targeting US bases in Iraq and Syria.

Tehran refers to its networks of proxies and allied groups in the region as the "axis of resistance", a kind of forward defence against its enemies.

The point of creating these ghost groups is to make it difficult for Washington to pin the attacks on a specific culprit.

Image source, Reuters

More reaction now from the Iraqi government, after the United States said it launched retaliatory strikes on 85 targets in Syria and Iraq.

In a statement, Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem al-Awadi says US strikes hit locations in the Iraqi towns of Akashat and al-Qaim, "including areas where our security forces are stationed".

The statement accuses the US of turning Iraqi territory into a "battleground for settling scores".

He continues by saying it is imperative that "all involved parties comprehend that our nation's land and sovereignty should not serve as a stage for exchanging messages or a display of force by adversaries".

The US base which was hit last Sunday in a deadly drone attack in a north-west corner of Jordan is one of more than a dozen where US military personnel operate across Iraq, Jordan and Syria.

Here's a quick summary of where the US has bases across the Middle East, and why.

Iraq - There are about 2,500 troops based in Iraq. Their presence is at the invitation of the Iraqi government as part of a US-led coalition to prevent a resurgence of the jihadist Islamic State group, which still has a presence there after being routed in 2017.

Syria - There are also about 900 US personnel in Syria. They are officially there to support its anti-IS ally the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria's semi-autonomous north-east region. The Syrian government opposes the US presence in its country, calling it an occupation.

The US also has about 3,000 US troops based in Jordan, which is a key US ally, and many more bases including three major air bases in the Gulf and a port in Bahrain.

Attacks on US bases are not uncommon, with the US regularly responding with retaliatory strikes.

Image source, .

We are also hearing from Iran now, with the foreign ministry spokesperson "strongly" condemning US attacks on Iraq and Syria.

In a statement, Nasser Kanaani describes the retaliatory strikes as "violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of both countries.

He says the attacks represent "another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region".

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Baghdad

The Iraqi government says at least 16 people, including civilians, have been killed and 25 others wounded in the country as a result of the strikes carried out by the US military overnight.

A spokesman described the attacks, which targeted Iranian-backed militias and interests, as a new aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty, saying they put Iraq and the region on the brink of the abyss.

Syria's foreign ministry has condemned overnight US strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria.

In a statement, shared by Sana news agency, it says the US attacks have proved "once again that... its military forces threaten international peace and security and ignites conflict in the region".

The Syrian government opposes the US presence in its country, calling it an occupation.

Syria was reinstated as a member of the influential Arab League last year, more than a decade after being thrown out for its brutal repression of pro-democracy protests, which led to the ongoing civil war.

The US, UK and other Western countries criticised the move and recently restated they would not restore relations with President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian government.

Former Commander of UK Joint Forces Command has been speaking to our colleagues on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about what the US strikes mean for regional tensions.

General Sir Richard Barrons notes that the US signalled that they would act, giving Iran "some time to remove its commanders from harm’s way".

Despite fresh action, he says that the fact both parties have made it clear they don't want an escalation provides "something of a safety net".

"In circumstances where good will is as rare as unicorns, we are going to find that a low level of attrition continues," Barrons adds.

He says this is unlikely to change until the "strategic pattern is changed" - either by this year's American presidential election or by an improvement in the situation in Gaza.

Image source, REUTERS/Johanna Geron

The EU foreign policy chief has called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq.

"Everybody should try to avoid that the situation becomes explosive," Josep Borrell said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Borrell did not address the US strikes directly, but repeated a warning that the Middle East was "a boiler that can explode".

Everybody should "try to avoid an escalation", he added.

A UK government spokesperson has commented on the US strikes in Iraq and Syria, calling the US and UK "steadfast allies".

"We wouldn’t comment on their operations, but we support their right to respond to attacks," they add.

They continue by condemning "Iran's destabilising activity throughout the region".

The risk of miscalculation remains at a febrile timepublished at 08:50 Greenwich Mean Time 3 February

08:50 GMT 3 February

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

A greater range of targets struck with greater force in Iraq and Syria without directly hitting Iranian soil – America’s reply to the killing of its servicemen is largely what was expected.

The Pentagon says it will now assess the impact of what it called the start of its “multi-tiered” response. New sanctions were also imposed on senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, and charges were unsealed against nine individuals for selling oil to help bankroll Iran-backed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran will also be assessing its losses and weighing up its reply. Bunkers used by its elite Quds force as well as its allies were targeted in this first wave of strikes. But this week they reportedly moved their most senior people out of harm’s way.

The US has sent its message to Iran and its allies that a red line was crossed. Both sides have also made it clear they want to avoid an even more dangerous escalatory spiral. But the risk of miscalculation remains at such a febrile time.

A spokesperson for Iraq's prime minister says the US strikes are a "violation" of Iraq's sovereignty, according to AFP news agency.

General Yehia Rasool adds that the strikes will bring "disastrous consequences for the security and stability of Iraq and the region", AFP reports.

The US launched strikes on 85 targets in Syria and Iraq overnight in response to last Sunday's drone attack on a US military base that killed three soldiers.

Damascus has responded to the US strikes against Iranian forces and allied militias in Iraq and Syria, saying the American "occupation" of Syrian territory "cannot continue".

In a statement, shared by Sana news agency, the Syrian military says that a number of people were killed and others wounded, without providing specific figures.

It also points to "huge damage" to private and public properties.

Image source, US Central Command via X/Reuters

Good morning if you are just joining us. Here's what's been happening:

• The United States has launched strikes overnight against Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, hitting at least 85 targets
• The strikes follow a drone attack last Sunday that targeted a US military base in Jordan, killing three American soldiers and injuring dozens more
• The White House has blamed Iran and US President Joe Biden has warned "if you harm an American, we will respond"
• Iran has denied involvement and describes accusations by the US as "baseless"
• Numerous aircraft and more than 125 precision munitions were used in the strikes, according to US Centcom

• United States defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said the US "will continue to work to avoid a wider conflict" but will take all necessary actions to defend itself and its people

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Baghdad

US officials say the overnight strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria were successful, and that the bombers hit what they were intended to hit. The targets were military infrastructure used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps and the militias Iran supports in Iraq and Syria, in seven locations along the Iraq-Syria border.

It is too early to say what impact the strikes will have, and whether they will, indeed, stop the attacks that have been carried out by those groups. In Washington, officials say this is just the beginning, and that more strikes will come.

For days, the White House has been telegraphing its intentions, probably to minimise casualties and reduce tensions with Iran. President Biden is walking a fine line, as he wants to give a strong response to last Sunday’s attack in Jordan that killed three US troops without escalating the situation in the Middle East even further.

Iranian proxies, part of what Tehran describes as the Axis of Resistance, have also been carrying out attacks from Lebanon and Yemen, as Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza continues. At the same time, Iran has said it does not want a war with the US. So a key question now is about how – or if – Iran and the groups it supports will respond.

Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent

President Joe Biden had promised a strong response to Sunday's deadly attack on a US military base in Jordan.

But the challenge for the US was to find the right balance between deterrence and escalation. Fail to act decisively and it risks sending a message of weakness that will only encourage more attacks.

Act too forcefully and it could trigger an escalatory response from Iran and its allies.The US would already have had a number of "on-the-shelf" military options to choose from.

These have been drawn up by the US Department of Defense with intelligence input from the CIA and the National Security Agency.

They are then presented to the US National Security Council and policymakers, with the president making the final decision and signing off on the chosen course.

Option one - which the US seems to have gone for - was to strike Iran-allied bases and commanders.

More here.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
BBC Persian Middle East correspondent, Beirut

Last Sunday’s attack was significant because of its location and the casualties it left.

In a statement posted on Telegram, a group called “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” claimed responsibility for the attacks on three US bases and the deaths of three US service members.

The group itself emerged right after the beginning of Israel’s bombardment in Gaza in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October.

"Islamic Resistance in Iraq" is believed to be an umbrella term for various Shia militia groups such as Kataib Hezbollah, Nujaba and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, that have a long history of targeting US bases in Iraq and Syria.

The point of creating these ghost groups is to make it difficult for Washington to pin the attacks on a specific culprit.

Regardless, there are always “usual suspects” in such attacks.

Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most secretive and more elite Shia militias allied with Iran and since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in October. The US has already targeted the group several times after attacks on US troops.