Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The United States has said it is seeking greater international resolve in countering Iran’s malign activities the same day after Israel launched the air strikes after anti-aircraft fire downed an Israeli F-16 warplane returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria on Saturday.

“We share the concerns of many throughout the region that Iran’s destabilizing activities that threaten international peace and security, and we seek greater international resolve in countering Iran’s malign activities,” Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

“The Department of Defense did not participate in this military operation,” Rankine-Galloway said. “Israel is our closest security partner in the region and we fully support Israel’s inherent right to defend itself against threats to its territory and its people,” he added.

The Israeli military said that the F-16 pilots had ejected before the plane was destroyed on Sunday in Syrian territory.

The Israeli military had launched what it said was a large scale attack against Syrian aerial defense systems and Iranian targets in Syria.

*Reuters