Pentagon spokesman John Kirby (Photo: Getty Images)

“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged all concerned parties to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria and avoid further complicating the situation.

Earlier, Russia condemned the US attack on Syria and viewed the action as an unacceptable violation of international law.  

Iran's foreign minister had a phone call with his Syrian counterpart after the US airstrikes.