“We don’t expect every conversation on this trip to be easy,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “There are obviously tough issues facing the region and difficult choices ahead. But the secretary believes it is the responsibility of the United States of America to lead diplomatic efforts to tackle those challenges head on, and he’s prepared to do that in the days to come.”
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There have now been at least 121 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, including three attacks in the last 48 hours, according to a U.S. defense official. The most recent attack targeted Mission Support Site Green Village in Syria.
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The State Department said he will be seeking regional assistance in calming the wider region too.
“It is in no one’s interest, not Israel’s, not the region’s, not the world’s, for this conflict to spread beyond Gaza,” Miller said.
The key elements to preventing a wider conflict include deterring attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on commercial Red Sea shipping, deterring attacks on Israel by Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah and deterring attacks on U.S. military facilities and interests by Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
There have now been at least 121 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, including three attacks in the last 48 hours, according to a U.S. defense official.