The commander of U.S. Central Command, Joseph Votel, remarked that "we certainly are concerned with the impacts of some of [Iran's] activities on our personnel, on our facilities, on our activities [in Syria and Iraq]". Citing Iran's missile strike near al-Bukamal, Votel stated that "this is an example of what does give us a bit of pause... these kinds of uncoordinated activities are a threat to not only our forces, but they're a threat to military and civilian air and aviation that operated in the area".