A Iraqi militia official hinted today, Saturday, at the desire to ease tensions in the Middle East after the retaliatory strikes launched by the United States against dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Hussein Al-Musawi, spokesman for the Al-Nujaba Movement, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, condemned the US strikes in an interview with the Associated Press in Baghdad, saying Washington "must understand that every action leads to a reaction." But he then spoke in a more conciliatory tone, saying, "We do not want to escalate or expand regional tensions."

Al-Musawi said the targeted sites in Iraq were "free of fighters and military personnel at the time of the attack," referring to the fact that there was not much damage that would justify the lack of a strong response.

Official Syrian media stated that the raids resulted in casualties but did not mention a number, and Rami Abdulrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 23 people were killed in the Syrian strikes, all ordinary fighters.

Iraqi government spokesman, Basim Al-Awadi, said in a statement on Saturday that the strikes in Iraq near the Syrian border resulted in the death of 16 people, including civilians, and caused "significant damage" to homes and private property.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry also announced that it would summon the acting US embassy chargé d'affaires, the ambassador who is outside the country, to present a formal protest over the US strikes on "Iraqi military and civilian sites."

The airstrike was the first American retaliatory shot for a drone raid that killed three US soldiers in Jordan last weekend, and the United States blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an alliance of Iranian-backed militias.

At the same time, Iran tried to distance itself from the attack, saying that the militias act independently of its direction.

Iraqi official spokesman Al-Awadi condemned the strikes and described them as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, especially as some targeted Popular Mobilization Forces facilities. The Popular Mobilization Forces, an alliance of Iranian-backed militias, were officially placed under the umbrella of the Iraqi armed forces after joining the fight against ISIS in 2014, but in fact still largely operate outside state control.

The Popular Mobilization Forces said in a statement on Saturday that one of the targeted sites was an official security headquarters for the group. In addition to 16 dead, 36 were injured, "while search operations are ongoing for the bodies of a number of missing persons."

The Iraqi government has been in a sensitive position since a group of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias calling themselves the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – many of whose members are also part of the Popular Mobilization Forces – began launching attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria in October, with the group describing the strikes as a retaliatory response to Washington's support for Israel in the Gaza war.

Iraqi officials have tried behind the scenes to rein in the militias, while also condemning the US retaliatory strikes as a violation of the country's sovereignty and calling for the withdrawal of the 2,500 American troops in the country as part of the international coalition to fight ISIS. Last month, Iraqi and US military officials launched formal talks to end the coalition's presence, a process likely to take years.

The Kata'ib Hezbollah, one of the main Iranian-backed militias, said it suspended its attacks on US forces after the Sunday strike that killed US forces in Jordan, to avoid "embarrassing" the Iraqi government.