Pentagon is aware of who’s answerable for Jordan drone assault
US officers have mentioned a retaliatory strike on Iran-backed militias within the Middle East may happen at any time after three US service members had been killed and greater than 40 had been wounded in a drone assault in Jordan final weekend.
“We may have a multi-tiered response,” protection secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned on the Pentagon on Thursday. “We have the power to reply numerous occasions relying on what the scenario is.”
The aim is to push again in opposition to militia teams backed by Iran which might be working in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, with none retaliatory measures resulting in a wider conflict within the area.
This comes after the White House mentioned on Wednesday that US intelligence had decided which militant group was behind the lethal drone assault on American troops.
“We consider that the assault in Jordan was a plan resourced and facilitated by an umbrella group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which accommodates a number of teams, together with Kataib Hezbollah,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby mentioned.
“Most of the drones within the area have a reference to Iran,” Mr. Austin defined on Thursday.
Iran threatens to ‘decisively reply’ to any US assault
Iran threatened earlier this week to “decisively reply” to any American assault on the Islamic Republic after President Biden explicitly linked Tehran to the killing of three US troopers in a drone assault on its Tower 22 base in northeastern Jordan.
The Iranian warnings first got here from Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, who mentioned merely: “The Islamic Republic would decisively reply to any assault on the county, its pursuits and nationals beneath any pretexts.”
Joe Sommerlad2 February 2024 18:30
Watch: Bidens at Dover Air Base for dignified switch
The president and first woman are in Delaware to honor the three American service members killed in final Sunday’s drone assault in Jordan as their stays are returned dwelling to their households.
Joe Sommerlad2 February 2024 17:45
US bolsters defenses round Jordan base in wake of assault
The US has bolstered defenses on the base in Jordan that was attacked by Iran-backed militants because it prepares for a wider response to a drone assault that killed three of its service members, an American official mentioned Friday.
Even as a bigger US army response appeared imminent, some Iran-backed factions pledged to proceed to assault its forces within the area. In a press release launched on Friday, one in every of Iraq’s strongest Iran-backed militias, Harakat al-Nujaba, introduced its plans to proceed army operations in opposition to American troops, regardless of different allied factions having known as off their assaults within the wake of Sunday’s drone strike in Jordan. .
Tower 22 in northeastern Jordan, the place three American troops had been killed and ‘many’ had been wounded on Sunday
(AP)
While earlier US responses have been extra restricted, the assault on Tower 22, because the Jordanian outpost is understood, and the deaths of the three service members have crossed a line, the official mentioned.
The base was struck by an Iranian-made drone fired from Iraq, they mentioned. In the times for the reason that assault, the US has bolstered the defenses round Tower 22, which homes about 350 troops and sits close to the demilitarized zone on the border between Jordan and Syria. The Iraqi border is simply six miles away.
Joe Sommerlad2 February 2024 17:15
How to strike again after a lethal drone assault? The US has many choices however should weigh the results
President Biden has a big selection of choices at his disposal, however the US should stroll a effective line.
A weak response to Sunday’s tragedy will do little to discourage additional assaults by Iran-backed militia teams on its forces.
A serious assault, nonetheless, dangers increasing the turmoil within the Middle East and drawing America right into a a lot wider battle.
Joe Sommerlad2 February 2024 16:30