Russia Accuses President Biden Of Using Attacks On Syria And Iraq For Election Interests

JAKARTA - Russia accuses President Joe Biden of carrying out attacks in Iraq and Syria to improve his image, as tensions for the 2024 presidential election campaign increase, not in retaliation for attacks that killed US troops.

The United States carried out airstrikes on Friday against dozens of targets linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and its group of allies after three of its troops were killed in Jordan in an attack Washington said was carried out by Iran-backed militias.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia, at a meeting of the Security Council on the attacks requested by Moscow said there was no justification for US actions.

"We are seeing efforts to 'collapse' this muscle, first of all, there is a desire to influence America's domestic political landscape, a desire to correct the bad image of the current American government in the international arena, as the presidential election campaign heats up," he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nebenzia's statement about President Biden. Meanwhile, elections will be held in the country in November.

Meanwhile, US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood confirmed US attacks in Syria and Iraq based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, which includes the individual or collective rights of a country to defend itself against armed attacks.

"Let me be clear: the United States does not want more conflict in the region when we are actively trying to contain and reduce the escalation of the conflict in Gaza. And we don't want a direct conflict with Iran. But we will continue to defend our personnel from unacceptable attacks," Wood said.

He added that the attacks in Syria and Iraq were "separated and different" operations from the US and UK attacks on the Houthi group allied with Iran in Yemen in response to targeting Houthi ships in the Red Sea.

Yesterday, the Pentagon said it was not aware of any deaths from residents in a recent attack.

Separately, Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani denounced Uncle Sam's attack as "illegal, illegal, and unjustified".

"All resistance groups in the region are independent," he told the UN Security Council.

"Any attempt to link these actions with Iran or its armed forces is misleading, baseless, and unacceptable. Iran has never attempted to contribute to the adverse effects in the region," he stressed.