TEHRAN - Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Parliament speaker’s special aide for international affairs, has condemned the recent U.S. airstrikes on anti-terror Iraqi popular forces in eastern Syria, according to Fars news agency.

“The new American administration has just changed mask and continues the path of the former one in supporting the ISIS terrorist group,” he stressed. 

Amir-Abdollahian noted that the U.S. President Joe Biden’s claims of fight against terrorism during his presidential campaign were all lies as he has ordered the Pentagon to strike anti-ISIS forces.

“While @JoeBiden boasted abt war agnst terrorism & #ISIS during the campaign, his authorization to strike local anti-ISIS forces shows how @WhiteHouse is hypocrite vis-a-vis terrorism & keeps its friendship w/DAESH. Mask of White House occupants has just changed & nothing more! pic.twitter.com/5tPB2C2gEz,” he tweeted. 

The Pentagon issued a statement late Thursday confirming earlier reports that the U.S. had conducted airstrikes inside Syrian territory. The statement said the strikes, carried out at President Biden's order, targeted multiple facilities used by Shia groups, including Kata'ib Hezbollah and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

The U.S. Defense Department called the strikes a "proportionate military response" in the wake of rocket attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq by unknown assailants.

EE/PA