they say against iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps quds forces, the elite fighting force of theevolutionary guards corps. that matters. consistent with some threats made by us officials earlier this week. that person personnel would be targeted to iranian facilities. so they are talking about more than 85 targets being hit. the us says numerous aircraft including long—range bombers flowed from the united states and then they really list the sites were hit. they talk about command—and—control operation centres, rockets and missiles, so weaponry, drone storage. we had talked specifically about this because it was, according to us officials, a iranian built drone fired by iranian facts militia that hit the us base injordan over the weekend. so that has a specific mention in there. they also talk about supply chain and facilities for these militia groups and their islamic revolutionary guards corps sponsors. so that statement is meant to sound pretty big and it does. in terms of what they have done so far. of course we know earlier this week the iranians were saying they would say t

the airstrikes were against iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militiaff to carry out the airstrikes. well, presidentjoe biden issued a statement on the strikes, saying: well, the strikes are in retaliation of a deadly drone attack on us forces last sunday.

the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struck

the airstrikes were against iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups. these are new pictures released by us central command these are new pictures released by us central command of 8—1 bombers taking off to carry out the airstrikes. well, presidentjoe biden issued a statement on the strikes, saying: well, the strikes are in retaliation of a deadly drone attack on us forces last sunday. three us soldiers were killed and more than a0 personnel injured at a us base called tower 22 injordan, near the border with syria. the white house blamed an iran—backed militia called islamic resistance in iraq, and vowed a "very consequential response". shortly before this round of strikes, the bodies of the three sergeants — williamj rivers, kennedy sanders and breonna moffett — islamic resistance in iraq, and vowed a "very consequential response". shortly before this round of strikes, the bodies of the three sergeants — williamj rivers, kennedy sanders and breonna moffett — were repatriated to the us state of delaware, where they posthumously received military

the us said iran s islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struckrson bassem al—awadi says us strikes hit locations in the iraqi towns of akashat and al-qaim. 16 people were killed and 25 injured in the strikes, according to iraqi officials, while a british—based war monitor says at least 20 were killed in syria. from the capital baghdad, here's hugo bachega. explosions the american strikes came in the middle of the night and there was no surprise. for days, us officials had said they would act and that iranian personnel and interests would be targeted. this video, broadcast on syrian state tv, claims to show the aftermath of one of the attacks. in iraq, the morning revealed some of the damage. 85 targets were struck in iraq and syria, locations america says have been used by iran's revolutionary guards and the militias it supports. it's a calibrated action with, crucially, no attacks inside iran. this was about degrading capability, taking away capabilities by the militant groups. these responses began tonight, they're not going to end tonight. the

the us began this retaliatory response against iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force andconflicts. the quds force is the international arm of iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps — known as the irgc. the irgc was established a0 years ago to defend tehran's islamic system, and to provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces. since then, the irgc has become a major military, political, and economic force in iran. it's believed that tehran utilizes the force of nearly 190 thousand personnel to further its foreign policy goals through the quds force. the us has accused the quds force of plotting or carrying out terrorist attacks — either directly or through its proxies — in five out of seven continents. the force's commander was killed in a us airstrike in baghdad, iraq injanuary 2020. for more on the situation, i'm joined by military and foreign policy expert michael desch. michael, good to have you with us. tell us more about the quds forces and how influential they have been. quds forces is iran's covert paramilitary action group outside its borders. i think it

the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struckthese are new pictures released by us central command of 8—1 bombers taking off to carry out the air strikes. our north america correspondent will vernon has the latest. american bombers carried out air strikes on more than 85 targets. the us military said they included the personnel and facilities of iran's revolutionary guard and the militant groups it backs. but the air strikes hit locations only in iraq and syria. iranian territory was not targeted. the message from the white house — the us doesn't want a war with tehran. the goal here is to get these attacks to stop. this was about degrading capability, taking away capabilities by the militant groups. these responses began tonight. they're not going to end tonight. so there will be additional responses. and this is what america is responding to. a drone attack on a us base injordan last sunday killed three us soldiers and wounded dozens more. washington said iran—backed militants were to blame. pressure had been building onjoe bid

in part "us centcom forces conducted airstrikes in iraq & syria against iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps quds forces" it comes after three us soliders were killed in an attack on a us base in north—easternjordan on sunday by iran—backed militant groups. iran has denied involvement. us presidentjoe biden took part in the dignified transfer ceremony for the three in delaware, as their remains returned to the us friday. he also met with their families. the three soldiers, sergeants kennedy sanders, breonna moffett, and williamj rivers died in the strike near the border with syria on sunday. a0 more were wounded. with me is our state department correspondent, tom bateman.

they were going for, and that included a long list of facilities used by iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps quds force associated militias here. command and control operation centers, intelligence centers, weapon storage facilities. you can really see the u.s. going after the types of weapons used to target u.s. forces in the region and all of the logistics and essentially command and control needed to carry out those sorts of attacks. the u.s. had made it clear it wasn't trying to start a war with iran here and very much trying to avoid that possibility. so no strikes in iran directly, but very much going after iran's proxies in the region and the ability of the proxies to carry out these ongoing attacks on u.s. forces. worth noting that these strikes, of course, come five days after a drone attack in the region killed three u.s. service members in jordan and wounded scores more. but it's not just that. there have been more than 160 attacks on u.s. forces in the region, and this was effectively a more powerful response to all of that. and yet there is no expectation that this is the end of it because

officials say they were linked to iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps quds force and affiliated militia groups. all of this in response to the deadly attack on u.s. soldiers in jordan. iraq claims friday's strikes killed 16 people including civilians. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin is saying this is just the beginning of the united states' response. iraq, syria and russia are warning that the u.s. is fueling the conflict in the middle east. iran says the u.s. has made a strategic mistake. cnn has teams around the globe following these developments. let's go to orrin leanman. >> four locations in syria. three locations in iraq. according to officials who briefed the media following the strikes. in terms the number of targets, you point out more than 85 targets in these locations. more than would not 25 precision wps used in carrying out these strikes. that's an order of magnitude if not greater more than the strikes we've seen carried out in iraq and syria by the u.s. over the course of the last several months. it is worth noting this is the first time we've seen the u.s. at

the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struck bassem al—awadi, says the us hit locations in the iraqi towns of akashat and al-qaim. 16 people were killed and 25 injured in the strikes, according to iraqi officials, while a british—based war monitor says at least 20 were killed in syria. here's our north america editor, sarah smith. american bombers — on their way to attack sites across iraq and syria. 85 targets in all, 129 missiles fired — us retaliation the region had been expecting. this video shows one target that was struck in iraq near the syrian border — possibly a munitions depot, say weapons experts. in daylight, more damage could be seen, also in iraq, where iranian—backed militant groups were targeted. and this is just the start. more strikes are expected in the coming days. crucially, no sites were attacked inside iran. president biden is walking a careful line, whilst also out campaigning today. in this election year, the commander—in—chief is also a candidate... thank you, thank you, thank you. it's good to be home!

the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struck

the us said iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia groups were struck, us officials had said they would act and that iranian personnel and interests would be targeted. this video, broadcast on syrian state tv, claims to show the aftermath of one of the attacks. in iraq, the morning revealed some of the damage. 85 targets were struck in iraq and syria, locations america says have been used by iran's revolutionary guards and the militias it supports. it's a calibrated action with, crucially, no attacks inside iran. this was about degrading capability, taking away capabilities by the militant groups. these responses began tonight, they're not going to end tonight. the us is responding to a drone attack on a us base injordan last sunday, which killed three american soldiers. the us said iranian—backed militants were to blame. president biden had been under pressure to give a strong response. in announcing the attacks, he said, "the us does not seek conflict "in the middle east" but he warned, "if you harm an american, we will respond." it's too early to say

drones, and ammunition depots and supply chain facilities, were used by iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps, the quds force, and that military proxy groups that they sponsor, and were directly linked to attacks against u.s. forces. now, as i mentioned, there's been a sizeable increase in the number of attacks against u.s. forces by iranian-backed militants since october the 7th. while iran hasn't publicly stated that once more with the united states, in fact it, said the opposite, when increasingly appears to be playing out is a proxy battle with the united states, staged outside of iran, using the loosely associated alliance that iran has cultivated over seven years, several years, called the axis of resistance. axis of resistance distance is a term and an idea that was first coined in response to president george w. bush's axis of evil speech. and we saw a revitalization following the american withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal, and subsequent economic actions in 2018. and the access of resistance has grown stronger and much more aggressive since october the 7th. notably, as i addressed in the last bl

the air strikes were against iran's islamic revolutionary guards corp quds force and affiliated militia

i was in the quds force of the islamic revolutionary guard corps, well, a lot of responsibility sangina very sensitive place classified and calculated. i was a representative of the supreme leader in the protection of the information of the entire army corps, i was a part of the selection of the entire country, i was the secretary of the selection of the entire country, so these various responsibilities caused me not to come to the parliament again until the ninth term of some elders and scholars of isfahan in a letter to i send and to write that after i signed up, in the name of god, the most merciful, the most merciful, the following signatories vote for hojat-ul-islam wal-muslimeen ahmad salek kashani, signed by ayatollah naseri, ayatollah haj agha kamal, all of these are 7 to 8 of the elders. i testify to the signing of god , i did not have a meeting with them, they themselves concluded that this was the conclusion. i attended, followed by the 10th period, in the same way, and this ninth and 10th period , significant events happened in which i have to share some points. the first p

quds force. there is this paramilitary arm, the irgc, the islamic revolutionary guard corps, and they have been the specific unit that has been tasked with training, arming, supporting these militia groups, which are the shadow force for iran across the region. the united states conducted a really important attack in 2020 that killed qassem soleimani, who was the head of that force, really widely revered figure, that was a big escalation at that time. and, you know, what we are seeing right now is just sort of a different moment, and flow, more or less direct conflict between the united states and iran that could really tip the spear and that sort of proxy conflict that were saying. >> do you have any sense, after the assassination of qasem soleimani, there was a lot of negotiations with iran, de- escalatory communications if you will. we have john kirby who said yesterday that a secret, you could not speak to any conversations that were happening between the u.s. and iran, or third parties facilitating this conversation. do you imagine in a moment like this that there is some, that there are commu