Moscow:

Russia accused President Joe Biden of launching attacks in Iraq and Syria on Monday to boost his image as the presidential campaign “heats up” rather than in retaliation for deadly attacks on U.S. soldiers.

The United States on Friday began airstrikes against dozens of targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its allied groups, after three American soldiers were killed in an attack in Jordan that Washington blamed on the Iran-backed militia. .

Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told a Security Council meeting called for by Moscow that there was no justification for the U.S. action.

“What we see in these ‘muscle flexing’ attempts is, above all, a desire to influence the domestic political landscape of the United States, and to somehow correct the disastrous image of the current US administration on the international stage as the presidential campaign heats up. Get up,” he said.

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

Robert Wood, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, defended the U.S. attacks in Syria and Iraq under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which covers a country’s right to individual or collective self-defense against armed attack.

“Let me be clear: As we work aggressively to contain and de-escalate the conflict in Gaza, the United States does not want more conflict in the region. Nor do we seek direct conflict with Iran. But we will continue to defend our personnel against unacceptable attacks .That’s it,” Wood said.

He added that the attacks in Syria and Iraq were “separate and distinct” from those by the United States and Britain targeting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in response to Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The Pentagon said on Monday it was not aware of any Iranian deaths in the latest attack.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Irawani, condemned the U.S. action as “unlawful, illegal and unjust.”

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

“Any attempt to blame Iran or its armed forces for these actions is misleading, baseless and unacceptable. Iran has never sought to contribute to spillover effects in the region.

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