Drone strike hits an Iran-backed militia convoy entering Syria from Iraq...

 

A border crossing between Syria and Iraq. Politico/AP.

A drone strike has destroyed a convoy entering Syria from Iraq. AP. Observers on the ground claim that the drones targeted six refrigerated trailers that may have belonged to Iranian backed militias. The observers also claimed that the drones that attacked the convoy appeared to be from the American-led coalition. Strikes targeting Iranian militias are common in Syria but the strike comes after increased tensions in the region after Iran itself was targeted in a drone attack. No one has currently taken credit for either drone attack. 

My Comment:

This would normally be a minor news story. But the context makes it a bit more important than it normally would. After all, Iran came under drone attack yesterday and we still don't know who was responsible for it. It could be part of a wider movement against Iran's proxies in the region. 

The strike itself seems pretty minor. A few trucks and trailer got blown up by a drone. Those trucks likely belonged to an Iranian backed militia and like I said, that happens all the time. Both the Israelis and the American led coalition have targeted these militias many times in the past. The Israelis feel these militias are a threat to their interests and they aren't wrong. Same with the Americans, they have come under attack several times by these militias so they probably didn't want these trucks to deliver whatever they were going to deliver. 

But it's hard not to think that this might be part of an offensive. The biggest suspect now in the Iranian strikes is Israel and they have a major reason to kill as many Iranian proxies as they can because they probably expect blowback. It's very possible that these trucks were involved in a possible attack on Israel. 

With that being said the observers on the ground seem to think it was the coalition that attacked this convoy and not the Israelis. That could just be a case of misidentification, after all Israel uses a lot of the same technology. But if it is true it might be an example of a deal between the US and Israel. If the Israelis carried out the Iranian attacks perhaps they wanted the United States to help deal with the proxy militias in Syria. 

Of course all of this is speculation, it's very possible that this strike was just done for the normal reasons. Both the Israelis and coalition have reasons to want these militias destroyed and the timing could very well be a coincidence. 

If it is not though? Then the proxy war between Iran and Israel might be getting a lot hotter. We are going to have to pay close attention to what is going on in the Middle East now as well as the war in Ukraine. It's very possible that a larger regional war between Israel and Iran could break out...