Russia accuses Biden of promoting election with Syria, Iraq attacks

United Nations (Reuters) – Russia on Monday accused President Joe Biden of carrying out strikes in Iraq and Syria to boost his image as the presidential election campaign “heats up” – but not in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. troops. .

The United States launched airstrikes on Friday against dozens of targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and affiliated groups, after three American soldiers were killed in an attack in Jordan that Washington blamed on Iranian-backed militias.

At a Security Council meeting on the strikes requested by Moscow, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said there was no justification for the US action.

“We see in these ‘flexing our muscles’ efforts, first of all, a desire to influence the domestic political scene in the US, a desire to somehow fix the disastrous image of the current US administration in the international arena, because President The election campaign is heating up,” he said.

American voters will head to the polls in November to elect their president for the next four years. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nebenzia’s remarks about Biden.

Deputy US Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood justified the US attacks in Syria and Iraq under Article 51 of the founding UN Charter, which covers the individual or collective right of states to self-defense against armed attack.

“Let me be clear: The United States does not desire further conflict in the region while we are actively working to prevent and de-escalate the conflict in Gaza. And we do not seek direct conflict with Iran. We are not. But we will continue to defend our personnel against unacceptable attacks. Period,” Wood said.

He said the strikes in Syria and Iraq were a “separate and distinct” operation from US and British strikes against the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen in response to the Houthis targeting shipping in the Red Sea.

The Pentagon said Monday it was not aware of any Iranian deaths in the recent attacks.

Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani condemned the US action, calling it “illegitimate, illegal and unjustified”.

“All resistance groups in the region are independent,” he told the 15-member UN Security Council on Monday.

“Any attempt to hold Iran or its armed forces responsible for these actions is misleading, baseless, and unacceptable. Iran has never wanted to contribute to proliferation in the region.”

(Reporting by Michelle Nicholls in New York, Lydia Kelly in Melbourne and Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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