I'm Lucy gray. The United States has launched strikes on targets in Syria and Iraq in response to a drone attack last weekend on a US military base that killed three soldiers. Us Central Command says its forces hit 85 targets in total. Whitehouse National Security Spokesman John Kirby added that three facilities were hit in Iraq and four were hit in Syria. The airstrikes were against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Kudz Force and affiliated militia groups. These are new pictures released by US Central Command of B-1 bombers, taking off to carry out the airstrikes. Our North America correspondent, Will Vernon, has the latest.

American bombers carried out airstrikes 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 airstrikes 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 Teran.

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 in Jordan last Sunday killed three US soldiers and wounded dozens more. Washington said Iran-backed militants were to blame. Pressure had been building on Joe Biden to respond with force. Announcing the start of the air strikes, the President said, The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this. If you harm an American, we will respond. In Iran, yesterday, hours before the strikes were launched, a defiant message from President Raisi.

We have said many times we will not initiate any war, but if anyone wants to bully us, Iran will respond firmly.

America wants to send a clear message. Attacks on US troops must stop. But many are warning of the dangers of escalating tensions in a highly volatile region. Will Vernon, BBC News, Washington.

Well, our Middle East correspondent Hugo Bershge is in Baghdad for us. He told me more about the reaction there to these strikes.

Yesterday, we had a very strong statement from a spokesman for the Iraqi military saying that these strikes were a violation of the Iraqi sovereignty, that they would drag Iraq into this conflict and that this could have unpredictable consequences. Obviously, the Iraqis have been very frustrated with the attacks that have been carried out by these Iranian-supported groups, but also they were very angry with the idea that these attacks would be happening inside Iraq. Now, the Americans said that they had notified the Iraqi authorities ahead of the attacks that happened overnight here. And now it is a little bit after nine o'clock in the morning. So what the American officials are saying that they are still gathering information to establish the damage that has been caused by these attacks and also whether militants have been killed. But I think one of the main concerns here from the Iraqi authorities was not only about those American strikes. We knew that those strikes were going to happen because for days, American officials have been talking about this response, but also how these groups and how Iran could be reacting to those attacks because any retaliation could happen here in Iraq.

Can you just explain perhaps the link in terms of Iran's links to these groups, perhaps in terms of the control exerted by Iran? How independent are they, are you able to say?

Yeah, it's very interesting because Iran has been saying that it doesn't want a direct confrontation with the Americans, but at the same time it supports these factions across the Middle East, the so-called Axes of Resistance. So For months, we've been talking about the attacks carried out by Hezbollah, which is the main group in this alliance, the militia in Lebanon that has been attacking Israeli positions almost every day, the Houthis in Yemen who have been carrying out those attacks in the Red Sea, and that has obviously led to that coalition led by the US, which has been targeting Houthi positions in Yemen. Also these groups here in Iraq and Syria, there is this faction here in Iraq called the Islamic Resistance of Iraq, which is a coalition of different forces supported by Iran. Now, what the Iranians say and what these groups say is that even though they are supported by Iran, they are acting independently, that Iran is not giving orders for these attacks to be carried out. But at the same time, they are trained by Iran, they are armed by Iran. So there is a very direct connection between between all these groups here in the region.

And again, the Americans have been warning Iran against escalating this situation. They've been saying that Iran needs to stop these attacks and should be using the influence it has on these groups to make these actions across the region stop.

Hugo Pashaker for us there in Baghdad.