Iranian-Backed Militia Threatens to Strike U.S. Targets as American Carrier Arrives in Mediterranean

The head of a prominent Iranian-backed militia in Iraq threatened to attack U.S. military bases should America intervene in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, just hours after the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean on Tuesday to deter Israel’s hostile neighbors from widening the conflict.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.

Hamidawi also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets and called on fellow Iraqis to collect donations to support Hamas terrorists who, just days ago, massacred nearly 1,000 Israeli civilians and brutalized thousands more, including women, children, and the elderly.

The U.S. currently has 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq — and an additional 900 in neighboring Syria — who have been tasked with advising and assisting local forces in their effort to contain the Islamic State.

The head of the Badr Organization, an Iranian-aligned Iraqi political and military group, made similar threats on Monday.