March 15, 2024
Army Gen. Erik Kurilla said US attacks in Iraq have deterred Iran from continuing to urge its proxies to attack US bases there, but have not prompted Iran to reduce support for its proxies there. Kurilla said the Iraqi proxies launched 173 missile, rocket and drone attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria between October 18 and February 2, when the US struck many of the proxies.
But there have been no attacks since then, he said. However, the Houthis continue attacking shipping despite even greater retaliatory attacks by the US on targets in Yemen. “The key to establishing deterrence is Iran has to understand there are consequences to their actions,” he said. “I think the last attack that we did on 85 targets [in Iraq], our messaging matched our action.”
Iran has, therefore, reined in its proxies in Iraq and Syria. But, he said, “It has not been deterred in terms of their funding and equipping…. Deterrence is always temporary,” he added. “
I would tell you Iran is undeterred in support to the Houthis. They’re undeterred in their support to Hezbollah, their support to Hamas, their support to the West Bank.” And the threat of attacks by violent extremists based in Afghanistan on American and Western interests abroad is increasing, the top US commander for the region also told a Senate committee March 7.
Kurilla said the Islamic State group’s “Khorasan” affiliates in Afghanistan and Syria “retain the capability and the will” to attack and could strike “in as little as six months and with little to no warning.” Such an attack would be more likely against the US and its allies in Europe, and it will take “substantially more resources” to hit the US homeland. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Kurilla painted a dire picture of violence in the Middle East in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Asked by Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota about US military surveillance over Afghanistan, Kurilla said the US has had to divert intelligence and reconnaissance assets from that country to Iraq, Syria and Yemen to better protect troops and ships under attack.
“The events of 7 October not only permanently changed Israel and Gaza it created the conditions for malign actors to sow instability throughout the region and beyond,” said Kurilla. “Iran exploited what they saw as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East to their advantage.”
Senators quizzed Kurilla on why the US hasn’t taken stronger action against Iran, including against Iranian ships that are delivering weapons, intelligence and supplies to militias. “Why are we not sinking those Iranian ships if there’s an Iranian spy ship providing targeting information,” asked Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska.
Kurilla said deterring Iran requires more than a military solution and added he could provide more details in a closed session. “Iran knows that its decadelong vision cannot be realized if countries in the region continue to expand integration with each other and deepen their partnership with the United States,” he said.
In other comments, he revealed for the first time that the US has been using directed energy weapons to shoot down drones but could use more of those so the Navy doesn’t have to use large, expensive missiles to take out the smaller threats. He also said it has just been a matter of luck that far more US troops have not been killed by Iran’s proxies in Iraq.
“There are several incidents where UAVs coming into a base hit another object, got caught up in netting or other incidents where, had they hit the appropriate target that they were targeting, it would have injured or killed more service members,” Kurilla said, using the military’s term for drones unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).