American special forces carried out a brief nighttime operation in Iraq’s Anbar Desert, near the Al-Waleed border crossing with Syria.
Three helicopters reportedly flew the forces from the Tower 22 base, located near the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border triangle. The helicopters returned to the base approximately one hour later.
The operation comes roughly two weeks after reports that Iran’s IRGC Quds Force had marked the base as a target for the killing or abduction of American soldiers. According to those reports, assassination cells were dispatched from Iran to Iraq under the direction of Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani.
While no official details have been released, the timing and location raise the possibility that the operation was intended to locate or neutralize Iranian assassination cells operating in the area.
